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JF-SUS  CHRIST  INSPIRES  AND  PRO'T'ECTS  hir  \-'CA,- 

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LIFE  OF  PIUS  IX. 


BY 

Eev.  BERNARD  O^REILLY,  L.D. 

(LAVArr) 


«OSTO^ 


A ■ 


,*  . ’ [TTOTUI-I.IAN.] 


TWELFTH  EDITION, 


NEW  YORK : 

P.  F.  COLLIEE,  PUBLISHER, 
38  Park  Place 
1878. 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  UCaArCt 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


6x: 

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Copyright, 

1877, 

By  P.  F.  CoLUEB. 


^0571 


jrowTork : J,  J.  UtUe  ft  Co.,  Printer^ 
10  to  SO  Astor  Ilace. 


To  His  EilllTEl^CE  JOHK  Cardii^al  McClosket, 

Archbishop  of  Netv  York. 

Your  Eminence : 

No  task  is  more  difficult  for  the  painter  than  to  produce  for 
an  enlightened  and  devoted  family  a portrait  of  an  absent  father  so 
natural  and  life-like  that  each  one  of  his  children,  in  gazing  on  the 
dear,  familiar  features,  forgets  both  the  work  and  the  workman  in 
the  delightful  illusion  which  seems  to  recall  the  sunny  smile,  the 
living  voice,  the  warm  heart,  the  life-long  tenderness,  and  all  the 
virtues  of  his  worshiped  parent. 

If,  in  your  judgment,  the  all-too-imperfect  sketch  attempted  in 
the  following  pages  of  One  who  has  gloriously  filled  the  Chair  of 
Peter  even  longer  than  Peter  himself,  and  whose  long-suffering  and 
greatness  of  soul  have  made  him  most  dear  and  venerable  to  the 
whole  earth,  can  recall  to  you,  whom  he  has  raised  nearest  to  his 
own  sublime  dignity  and  bound  to  himself  by  the  pledge  of  so  close 
a love,  some  one  feature  of  the  great  Father  of  Christendom,  then  is 
the  author  not  ill-satisfied  with  his  work. 

He  can  then  hope  that  in  every  Catholic  home  in  which  these 
chapters  are  read,  the  light  of  the  heroic  life  of  Pius  IX.  shall 
warm  all  true  hearts  to  a firmer  faith  and  more  generous  deeds,  and 
remind  all  that  by  honoring  in  your  person  a long  and  spotless 
career  of  priestly  excellence  and  episcopal  devotion,  Pius  IX.  has 
honored  themselves,  their  country,  and  the  Church  of  America. 

Begging  your  Eminence  to  accept  this  humble  tribute  of  filial 
respect,  and  to  bless  the  book  and  the  author,  he  remains. 

Your  attached  and  faithful  servant, 

B.  O’Eeilly. 

New  Yorz,  July  8,  1877, 


APPROBATION 


OF  niS  EMINEifCE  THE  CAKDIHAL- ARCHBISHOP  OF  HEW  YORK, 


From  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Foley ^ Bishop-Administrator  of  Chicago. 

I return  you  my  liearty  thanks  for  the  advance  sheets  of  your 
Life  of  our  Holy  Father,  Pius  IX.  As  far  as  I have  read  them, 
they  have  given  me  entire  satisfaction.  It  is  the  Life  which  is 
destined  to  live  in  English. 

Very  faithfully, 

Thomas  Foley, 

Bishop  of  Chicago, 


From  the  Right  Rev.  James  F.  Wood,  Archbishop  of  Philadelphia. 


Archdiocese  of  Philadelphia, 
Rev.  Berhard  O’Reilly  : 


Cathedral,  Logah  Square, 
Philadelphia,  Aug'.  25,  1877. 


Rev.  Dear  Sir:  I have  received  a copy  of  your  Life  of  Pius 
IX.,”  for  which  please  accept  my  sincere  thanks.  The  matter  it 
contains,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  gotten  up,  are  worthy  of 
the  illustrious  Pontiff  whose  life  it  treats  of. 

Let  me  congratulate  you  on  your  brilliant  success,  and  again  offer 
you  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of 

Your  humble  servant  in  Christ, 

James  F.  Wood, 

Archbishop  of  Philadelphia. 


AUTHOE’S  PEEFACE. 


HIS  book,  whatever  its  merits  or  demerits,  is  the  partial  result  of 


-L  a design  long  clierislied,  tlie  fruit  of  many  years  of  conscien- 
tious study  and  careful  observation. 

Tlie  author,  while  yet  a school-boy — in  1831-32 — remembers  being 
startled  and  shocked  by  an  angry  discussion  about  the  insurrection 
just  then  occurring  in  the  Papal  States.  One  of  the  disputants  con- 
tended that  the  discontent  of  the  insurgents  was  created  by  a secular 
system  of  misgovernment,  ^^unprogressiveness,’’ blind  repression,” 
and  ^‘ignorantism,”  so  intolerable  that  human  nature  could  not  en- 


dure it. 


It  became  thenceforth  a passion  with  the  author  to  read  every- 
thing that  could  throw  light  on  the  state  of  Italy,  and  enable  him  to 
trace  out  the  causes  of  the  chronic  discontent  and  unrest  to  which  her 
populations  were  a prey,  breaking  out,  as  they  did,  periodically,  into 
sanguinary  violence  and  the  fierce  manifestations  of  a spirit  so  anti- 
Catholic,  so  anti-Christian,  so  unholy,  that  it  seemed  unaccountable 
to  most  people,  while  by  others  it  was  asserted  to  be  the  natural 
growth  of  a soil  cursed  by  priestly  government. 

He  perfectly  remembers  reading  in  the  newspapers,  the  period- 
icals, and  the  books  of  travel  of  that  day,  of  the  rising  in  the 
Eomagna,  the  Marches,  and  Umbria,  of  the  appearance  on  the  scene 
of  the  two  young  Bonapartes,  one  of  whom  was  said  to  have  been 
mortally  wounded  at  Forli,  while  the  survivor,  in  command  of  a 
company  of  insurgent  cavalry,  was  said-  to  have  been  saved  by  the 
generous  interference  of  the  patriotic  and  devoted  Archbishop  Mas- 
tai  of  Spoleto,  soon  afterward  Archbishop-bishop  of  Imola.  Then, 
also,  Mazzini  and  his  vast  revolutionary  league  of  Young  Italy  ” 
began  to  loom  up  before  our  eyes  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  in- 
vested by  public  opinion  with  the  dread  mysterious  j)ower  of  “ The 
Old  Man  of  the  Mountain  ” in  the  time  of  the  early  crusades. 

Thus  the  personages  who  are  most  conspicuous  in  the  following 
pages  became  thenceforward  familiar  to  the  writer ; they  seemed  to 


V 


vi  Author  s Preface. 

travel  ihe  same  road  with  him,  as  he  advanced  from  boyhood  to 
manhood  and  old  age. 

He  saw  the  Mazzinian  conspiracy  gi’owing  steadily  in  power  and 
influence,  inoculating  with  the  deadly  virus  of  its  anti-Christian 
principles  and  its  anti-Catholic  passions  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
young  and  ambitious  throughout  the  Italian  Peninsula,  filling  the 
souls  of  the  middle  classes  everywhere  with  an  insatiable  ambition  of 
climbing  into  place  and  power  over  the  ruins  of  existing  institu-. 
tions,  and  sedulously  educating  the  needy,  the  idle,  the  vicious 
population  of  the  cities,  in  the  notion  that  the  Church,  the  papacy, 
the  government  of  priests,  was  the  sole  obstacle  between  them  and 
wealth  and  happiness  and  unlimited  liberty. 

The  agitation  fomented  by  Young  Italy,  and  the  vast  network  of 
secret  societies  or  sects  ’’  connected  with  or  dependent  on  it,  was  as 
regular  and  as  irresistible  in  its  ‘‘movements’’  as  the  tides  in  the 
ocean.  And  soon  after  1832  the  subversive  and  demoralizing  influ- 
ence of  these  dark  and  dangerous  associations  began  to  receive  in- 
credible sympathy  and  a mighty  accession  of  moral  force  from  the 
countenance  and  co-operation  of  the  various  Bible  Societies  and 
Protestant  alliances  for  the  “conversion”  of  Italy. 

Into  this  movement  against  the  ancient  and  sacred  rights  of  the 
Holy  See  we  behold  England  dragged,  reluctantly  at  first,  but  af- 
terward unresistingly,  by  the  evil  counsels  of  Palmerston,  Eussell, 
and  Gladstone.  While  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  become  ruler  of 
Prance  in  1848,  never  for  one  instant  ceased,  even  when  sending  his 
army  to  restore  Pius  IX.,  to  conspire  secretly  or  co-operate  openly 
with  Piedmont  in  promoting  the  sacrilegious  spoliations  which  have 
left  the  Holy  Father  nothing  but  the  uncertain  freedom  of  his  prison 
in  the  Vatican. 

Such  is  the  succession  of  events  in  this  book. 

The  lessons  inculcated  by  them  are  eloquent  enough  of  them- 
selves. 

Protestant  writers,  the  avowed  enemies  of  the  Papacy,  shall  tell 
the  reader  that  the  baneful  change  was  anything  but  desired  by  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  true  “ people,”  or  anything  but  a 
blessing  to  them  and  their  beautiful  country ; while  these  same 
Protestants  shall  clearly  show  that  the  people  of  Italy  under  priestly 
influence  and  Papal  rule  were  most  happy,  most  enlightened,  most 
moral,  most  manly  and  independent. 

As  to  the  invasion  of  the  Eoman  territory  in  September,  1870,  a 


Author  s Preface, 


Vll 


letter  published  by  Georges  Seigneur,  on  January  the  10th,  1873, 
attempts  to  exonerate  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.  from  all  com- 
plicity with  his  ally,  Victor  Emmanuel.  The  writer  of  the  letter 
affirms  that  the  exiled  emperor,  in  March  of  the  preceding  year, 
expressed  himself  in  the  following  manner  : 

^‘The  situation  forced  upon  the  sovereign  pontiff  at  the  present 
moment,  by  events  which  I could  not  control,  is  a sad,  a cruel,  but  a 
most  convincing  proof  of  the  necessity  of  the  temporal  power  for 
the  Head  of  the  Church. 

^‘The  keenest  sorrow  I have  experienced  in  my  exile  arises  from 
my  present  inability  to  free  the  Head  of  the  Church,  who  is  also  my 
son^s  godfather,  as  well  as  my  being  powerless  to  renew  the  crusade 
of  1849  and  that  of  Montana.” 

This  retraction,  whatever  may  be  its  authenticity  or  its  sincerity, 
is  here  given,  lest  the  severe  judgment  pronounced  in  this  book  on 
the  ex-emperor  should  be  accepted  by  the  reader  without  tlie  atten- 
uating circumstances  which  may  plead  before  living  judges  in  favor 
of  one  who  has  undergone  the  judgment  of  God. 

July  tbe  30tli,  1877. 


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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birtli,  7 — Boyhood,  13 — Early  Education,  15, 

1792-1809. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Vocation  to  the  Priesthood,  19 — Preparation  for  the  Priesthood,  21 — Trials,  23 
— Perseverance,  25 — Pius  VII.  and  Giovanni  Mastai’,  27. 

1809-1814. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Theological  Studies,  29 — First  Labors  for  the  Poor  and  the  Ignorant,  30 — The 
Crown  of  a Noble  Ambition,  31 — A True  Mother’s  Reward,  33. 

1814-1818. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Labors  among  the  Orphan  Boys,  85 — Sent  to  Chili  with  the  Delegate  Apostolic, 
37 — Labors  in  the  Industrial  Schools  of  Rome,  41 — Appointed  Archbishop 
of  Spoleto,  42. 

1819-1827. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Consecrated  Archbishop  of  Spoleto,  43 — State  of  Umbria,  45 — What  Religion 
has  done  with  the  People,  47 — Causes  of  Disaffection  and  Disorder,  49 — 
Administrative  Career  in  Spoleto,  51 — Appointed  to  Imola,  55. 

1827-1832. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Christian  Glories  of  Imola,  57 — Characteristics  of  the  People,  58 — Political 
Passions,  59 — Orsini’s  Youthful  Visions  of  Italian  Liberty,  GO — Superior 
Education  given  to  the  Clergy,  G1 — Sisters  of  Charity  in  Imola ; and  the 
Jesuits  called  to  Aid  in  Religious  Instruction,  G2 — The  Sisterhood  of  the 
Good  Shepherd,  G3 — Political  Conspiracies,  G4 — The  Archbishop  nearly 
Carried  off,  G5 — Archbishop  Mastai  elevated  to  the  Cardinalate,  GG — His 
Filial  Devotion  to  his  Mother,  G7 — Death  of  Gregory  XVI.,  G7. 

1832-1846. 


IX 


X 


Table  of  Conients. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

From  Imola  to  the  Conclave,  69— Anticipations  and  Prognostics,  71 — Conflicting 
Interests  and  Pretensions  of  so-called  Catholic  Powers,  73 — Division  in  the 
College  of  Cardinals,  75 — Political  Excitement  in  Rome  and  throughout 
Italy  at  the  Opening  of  the  Conclave,  77 — Causes  of  Disaffection  and  Dis- 
order, 79 — The  Cardinals  hasten  to  Elect  Mastai’,  80 — His  Hesitation,  80. 

June,  184G. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

How  the  Announcement  was  received,  81 — Letter  of  Pius  IX.  to  his  Brothers 
announcing  his  Elevation,  and  his  Sense  of  its  Dignity  and  Responsibilities, 
82— Fears  of  his  Sister,  83 — Wrath  of  the  Austrian  Ambassador,  81 — Hesi- 
tancy about  appointing  an  Administration,  85 — Plans  laid  by  Mazzini  to 
Frustrate  all  the  Intentions  of  Pius  IX.,  86 — State  of  Umbria,  87 — “The 
Sects,”  88 — Leo  XH.  as  a Reformer,  89 — Noble  Deeds  of  Pius  IX.,  91 — The 
Question  of  Amnesty,  94 — Amnesty  Granted,  95 — Enthusiasm  and  Joy  of 
the  Citizens,  96 — First  Papal  Allocution,  97. 

June  and  July,  1846. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Enthusiasm  continues,  99 — Intrigues  and  Plots,  100 — Galletti  in  the  Pres- 
ence Chamber  at  the  Feet  of  the  Pope,  101 — Oath  of  Allegiance  made  by 
Galletti,  101 — Sincere  Desire  of  the  Pope  for  Reform,  103 — A Divided  Pub- 
lic Opinion,  105 — Why  Pope  Pius  IX.  did  not  play  Sixtus  V.,  105 — Alms  in 
the  Ghetto  or  Jews’  Quarter,  106. 

June- July,  1846. 

CHAPTER  X. 

False  Notions  about  the  Backward  State  of  Italy,  107 — To  what  Causes  Decay 
and  Stagnation  should  be  Traced,  108 — Strategy  of  the  Radicals,  109 — Never 
to  be  Satisfied  with  any  Concession  of  Pius  IX.,  109,  110 — Great  Reform  in 
Ecclesiastical  and  other  Institutions  made  by  Pius  IX.  in  Rome,  111 — Sci- 
entific Congress  in  Genoa  converted  into  a Revolutionary  Convention,  112 
— Calamities  that  helped  the  Mazzinian  Agitation,  113 — Scarcity  of  Food 
and  Riots,  114 — The  Pope  takes  Possession  of  St.  John  Lateran  ; Fifty  Thou- 
sand People  present  at  the  Ceremonial,  115 — Pius  IX.  gives  the  Blessing 
to  the  Crowd,  followed  by  a mighty  Chorus  of  enthusiastic  Joy,  116. 

JULY-NOVEiTBER,  1846. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Elcclesiastical  Acts  of  Pius  IX.,  118 — First  Encyclical  to  the  Hierarchy,  fore- 
shadowing the  chief  Teachings  of  his  Pontificate,  119 — Inundations  at 
Rome,  122 — Relief  distributed  personally  by  the  Holy  Father  when  he 


Table  of  Co7itents, 


XI 


visited  tlie  Sufferers,  123 — Great  Liberality  of  tbe  Pope  towards  tbe  Jews, 
124 — Celebration  at  Genoa,  125 — Growing  Discontent  of  Austria,  12G. 

November-Decembek,  1846. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Grand  New-Year’s  Demonstration  by  tbe  Clubs  in  honor  of  tbe  Pope,  129 — A 
Consultative  Body  of  inSuential  Laymen,  128 — His  Holiness  resolved  to 
improve  every  Branch  of  tbe  Administration  requiring  Reform,  129 — These 
Measures  only  increase  tbe  Discontent  of  tbe  Radicals,  131 — Reforms  an- 
nounced by  tbe  Pope,  133 — Encyclical  on  tbe  Famine  in  Ireland,  134 — 
National  Festival  ostensibly  held  to  Celebrate  tbe  Founding  of  Rome,  but 
in  reality  to  talk  Politics  and  excite  tbe  People,  136 — Resentment  of  Austria 
increasing,  137. 

January- June,  1847. 

CHAPTER  XIH. 

Tbe  Pope’s  Popularity  Unsought,  139 — Pastoral  Labors  in  behalf  of  tbe  Roman 
People,  141 — Pilgrimage  of  O’Connell  to  Rome  undertaken  in  tbe  month 
of  May  ; be  Sickens  and  Dies  at  Genoa ; bis  Heart  taken  to  Rome,  142 — 
Obsequies  and  Panegyric  of  O’Connell,  143— Efforts  to  restore  Diplomatic 
Relations  between  Rome  and  England  marred  by  Palmerston’s  anti-Catbolic 
Policy,  144 — Plots  and  Counter-plots  in  Rome,  145 — Festivities  of  June  17tb, 
146 — Various  Causes  of  Agitation  and  Discontent,  147 — Sanfedists,  or  Holy 
Faith  Men,  148 — Creation  of  Roman  Civic  Guard  decreed  by  tbe  Pope,  149 
— Tbe  supposed  Conservative  Conspiracy,  159 — Rome  ruled  by  Mob  Law, 
153 — Position  and  Policy  of  tbe  Papacy,  155 — Guizot’s  Efforts  paralyzed  by 
Palmerston,  157 — Strategy  of  tbe  Radicals ; Austria  withdraws  its  Forces 
from  tbe  Papal  States,  159. 

1847. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Heroic  Spirit  of  Pius  IX.,  160 — He  pursues  steadily  bis  Course  of  Reform,  161 
— Opening  of  tbe  Council  of  State,  163 — Count  Rossi  urges  Secularization 
of  Government,  163 — Roman  Clubs  triumph  over  Defeat  of  tbe  Sonderbund, 
167 — “Down  with  tbe  Jesuits!”  168 — Congratulations  from  America  to 
Pius  IX.,  171. 

1847. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

New-Year’s  Procession  Forbidden,  173 — Mazzini  in  Paris  planning  Revolutions, 
175 — The  Tricolor  Flag  in  Rome,  176 — Petitions  for  a Regular  Army,  177 
— Pius  IX. ’s  steady  Patriotism  ; Appeals  to  bis  People,  179 — Increase  of 
Discontent,  183 — Tbe  Mass  of  tbe  Subjects  Faithful,  184 — Reforms  an- 
nounced by  tbe  Pope,  185. 


January,  1848. 


Table  of  Contents. 


Dcii 


, CHAPTER  XVI. 

Radical  Hatred  of  tlio  Moderate  Liberals,  186 — Rossi  rebukes  the  War  Party, 
187 — Difficulty  in  framing  a Constitution,  188 — First  Constitutional  Minis- 
try, 189 — The  Pope  opposed  to  War  with  Austria,  191 — The  People  per- 
suaded that  he  favored  the  War,  191 — The  Pope  acts  on  the  Defensive,  191 
— His  General,  Durando,  proclaims  a Crusade,  192 — The  Pope  solemnly 
Protests,  195 — Rage  of  Young  Italy,  197.  ’ • 

Febeuary-April,  1848. 

CHAPTER  XYH. 

The  Pope  as  a Mediator,  198 — Republican  Agitation  in  Rome,  201 — The  Pope’s 
Mediation  defeated  by  Palmerston,  202 — Mazzini  conspiring  against  Charles 
Albert,  203 — Gavazzi  preaching  Sedition  to  the  Troops,  205 — “ War  of  the 
King”  and  *‘War  of  the  People,”  205 — Pressure  on  the  Pope,  206 — The 
Austrians  at  Ferrara,  206 — The  Pope  desires  to  Reform  Penitentiaries,  207 
— Pius  IX. ’s  Plan  of  a Federated  Italy,  207 — Defended  by  Rossi,  209. 
Mat-September,  1848. 

CHAPTER  XVHI. 

Rossi  Prime  Minister,  211 — He  bridles  Anarchy  and  devotes  himself  to  the 
Work  of  reform,  213 — New  Ministry  hated  by  the  Radicals ; Rossi  respected 
by  the  Holy  Father  ; Rossi’s  Admiration  for  Pius  IX.,  213 — Retrieving  the 
Finances  and  establishing  Telegraphs  and  Railroads,  Rossi’s  first  Work, 
214 — Rossi  warned  of  Seditious  Rumors,  215 — Training  of  Assassins,  217 — 
Rossi’s  Heroic  Fortitude,  217 — His  Assassination,  218 — Pius  IX.  speechless 
with  Grief  and  Horror,  219. 

September-November,  1848. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Eclipse  of  Roman  Manhood,  221 — Soldiers  fraternizing  with  Assassins,  222 — 
Evil  Eminence  of  Sterbini  and  Canino,  223 — Pius  IX.  reorganizes  the  Gov- 
ernment to  face  the  Crisis,  224 — Insurrection  beforehand  with  him,  224 — 
Noble  Conduct  of  the  Diplomatic  Body,  225 — Courage  of  Antonelli  and  the 
Swiss  Guard,  227 — The  Quirinal  attacked,  227 — Pius  IX.  besieged,  228 — 
With  the  Threat  over  him  of  Massacring  every  Man  among  his  faithful 
Defenders,  the  Holy  Father  yields,  229 — Pusillanimity  of  the  Upper  Roman 
Chamber,  230 — Courageous  Protestation  in  the  Lower  Chamber  of  Deputies, 
230 — Swiss  Guard  dismissed  without  their  Arms  by  Sterbini,  230 — The  Pope 
resolves  to  leave  Rome,  231 — Noble  Letter  of  the  Venetian  Castellani,  233. 

November,  1848. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

How  the  Flight  was  planned,  234 — Delays,  Miscalculation  of  Time,  and  unex- 
pected Circumstances,  236 — Intense  Anxiety  of  Countess  Spaur,  238 — Re 


Table  of  Co7itents. 


xiii 


ception  of  tte  Unknown  at  Gaeta,  239 — Count  Spaur  at  Naples,  240 — Let- 
ter of  liis  Holiness  to  tke  King  of  Naples,  240 — King  Ferdinand  hastens  to 
Gaeta,  241 — Pope  Pius  IX.  received  by  the  King  and  Queen  at  Gaeta,  241. 

Notember  24th-2Gth,  1848. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Banner  of  Lepanto  in  Gaeta,  243 — St.  Pius  V.  and  Pius  IX.,  243 — France 
to  the  Rescue,  245 — Napoleon  III.’s  Italian  Policy,  247 — Napoleon  HI. 
abets  Piedmontism,  248 — “Honor  thy  Father  and  Mother,”  249 — Spain’s 
Initiative,  250 — Sardinia  stands  Aloof,  251 — Gioberti’s  Contradictory  Policy, 
252 — Definition  of  Piedmontism,  252 — Spain  repudiates  Piedmontism  ; sends 
a Force  to  the  Holy  Father,  252 — Protestation  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  254 — Pius 
IX.  appoints  a Commission  of  Government,  254 — Constitution! st  Hypocrisy 
in  Rome,  255 — Radicalism  Triumphant,  256 — Deputation  sent  to  Gaeta  not 
received,  256 — Gathering  of  the  Evil  Powers  in  Rome,  258. 

November-Decealber,  1848. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Loveliness  and  Classic  Memories  of  Gaeta,  260 — Why  Pius  IX.  wished  to  go  to 
Spain,  262 — Pastoral  Cares,  263 — Elevation  of  Secular  and  Regular  Clergy, 
264 — Encyclical  on  Monastic  Orders,  265 — Constitutions  of  St.  Ignatius, 
267 — ^Vhat  a Jesuit  is  and  is  not,  269 — Encyclical  to  the  Italian  Bishops, 
269 — Admirable  Teachings,  271 — Education  of  the  Young  Clergy,  273 — Tho 
far-reaching  Voice  of  the  Pontiff,  275 — A Subject  misunderstood  by  Protest- 
ants, 277 — Immaculate  Conception,  277 — Immaculateness  no  Divine  Attri- 
bute, 277 — Timely  Discussion  of  the  Doctrine,  280. 

1849. 

. CHAPTER  XXHI. 

Revolutionary  Changes  in  Rome,  281 — Convocation  of  the  Roman  Constituent 
Assembly,  283 — Elections,  how  carried,  284 — The  Reign  of  Wholesale  Con- 
fiscation of  Church  Property,  285 — Reign  of  Murder,  250 — Priests,  the  prin- 
cipal Victims,  288 — Appeal  for  Intervention,  289 — W’'hy  tho  Intervention 
was  not  Bloodless,  290 — Louis  Napoleon  will  be  the  Pope’s  Master,  291. 

January-July,  1849. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Tlio  exiled  Pontiff’s  Love  for  his  Subjects,  293 — Why  he  did  not  Return  to  Rome 
forthwith,  295 — Confiicting  Aims  of  the  Catholic  Powers,  296 — Pius  IX. 
resents  Louis  Napoleon’s  impertinent  Dictation,  297 — The  Holy  Father  pur- 
poses many  Reforms  for  the  Good  of  his  People,  298 — His  Zeal  for  the  Re- 
vival of  Faith  throughout  Italy,  299 — Nature  around  Vesuvius  suggests 
Conciliation,  301 — Pius  IX.  yearns  to  be  back  among  his  People,  302. 

September,  1849-Apeil,  1850. 


XIV 


Table  of  Co7itents, 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Pius  IX.  once  more  in  St.  Peter’s,  303 — Hearty  Welcome  from  the  True  Hearted, 
804 — Attempt  to  Fire  the  Quirinal,  307 — Mazzini  proclaims  a new  Crusade 
Crusade  succeeds  in  its  Purpose,  309 — Cardinal  Antonelli  and  Pius  IX.,  311. 

1850. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

1850  a Tear  of  Jubilee ; Beatification  of  American  Saints,  313 — Piedmont  pur- 
sues her  anti-Catholic  Policy,  315 — Solemn  Definition  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  317 — Private  Life  of  Pius  IX.;  his  Official  Duties,  323 — His 
Love  of  Students  and  Children,  325 — The  Slave  Girl  from  New  Orleans, 
327 — The  Plague  and  the  French  Garrison,  328 — Followers  of  Garibaldi 
taken  Prisoners ; Pius  IX.  Consoles  and  Cares  for  them,  though  his  Ene- 
mies, 328. 

1850-1855. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Working  of  the  New  Institutions,  329 — Judged  by  Thiers,  330 — By  Palmerston, 
330— Baron  Sauzet  on  Roman  Legislation,  331 — The  Mazzinian  Gallotti’s 
Opinion  ; Administration  of  Roman  Law,  332 — How  the  Rights  of  the  Poor 
are  tenderly  cared  for,  333 — What  prevented  the  Pope’s  Reforms  from  being 
Effectual,  333— Duplicity  and  Sacrilegious  Haste  of  Piedmont,  333 — The  Ro- 
man Question  in  the  Congress  of  Paris,  334 — Cavour’s  Calumnies  refuted  by 
Count  de  Rayneval,  335 — Second  Encyclical  on  Italy,  336 — The  Pope  resolves 
to  visit  his  Dominions,  337. 

1850-1857. 

CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

Modem  Rome  created  amid  Ruins,  339 — Catholic  Creations  throughout  the 
Campagna,  340 — Piedmont  undoing  what  the  Popes  had  done,  341 — An  In- 
stance on  the  Pope’s  Route,  342— Monte  Soratte  and  its  Monasteries,  342 — 
A serious  Tour  of  Inspection  ; the  Pope’s  Journey,  344 — Work  done  and 
Improvements  ordered,  344 — Munifiebnee  of  Pius  IX. , 345 — Royal  Visitors, 
846 — The  Pope  in  Modena  and  Tuscany,  346 — His  Return  to  Rome,  347 — 
The  tme  Mortara  Case,  347 — The  Mazzinians  impatient,  347 — Orsini’s  At- 
tempt to  Murder  Napoleon  III.,  348 — When  and  how  the  War  of  1859  was 
Planned,  349 — Europe  mystified  by  Napoleon  and  Cavour,  350 — Garibaldi’s 
Executive  Programme,  350. 

1857-1859. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  War  begun,  352 — Solidarity  between  Garibaldi  and  Victor  Emmanuel,  353 . 
— Lord  Derby  as  a Peacemaker  laughed  at  by  Cavour,  353 — Prince  Napo- 
leon in  Tuscany  and  the  Romagna,  354 — Piedmontism  triumphant  in  the 
Papal  Territory,  355 — The  Church  Despoiled  first  and  Degraded  afterward. 


Table  of  Contents, 


XV 


355— Tlie  Bisliops  of  the  Marches  tell  a Tale,  355— The  Jesuits  Robbed  and 
Outraged,  357— Father  Beckx  Protests,  359— The  Pope  hemmed  in  by  Rev- 
olutionary Forces,  360 — He  Excommunicates  the  Invaders  ; Denunciation  by 
French  Publicists  and  Bishops ; Bishop  Dupanloup’s  scathing  Rebuke  of 
Napoleon,  360— Louis  Veuillot  pre-eminent  in  the  Defense  of  the  Holy  See, 
364^E[is  Journal  suppressed,  366— Crusade  for  the  Pope,  367. 

1859- 1860. 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Pontifical  Army  intended  for  Defense,  369— The  Pope  Exhorted  and  En- 
couraged to  form  an  Army,  370— The  Right  to  employ  Foreigners,  370— Vol- 
unteers of  1860,  370 — The  Sons  of  the  Crusaders,  371 — De  Merode,  De  La  Mo- 
riciere,  372 — Concerted  Action  between  Napoleon  and  Cavour,  372 — Plans 
of  the  latter,  372 — He  resolves  to  “ do  quickly,”  372 — Brutal  and  insulting 
Proclamations,  373 — Bad  Faith  of  Cavour  and  his  Generals,  373 — La  Mori- 
ciere  unprepared  for  Piedmontese  Aggression,  374 — Violation  of  all  Right 
and  Law  by  the  Piedmontese,  375 — Perilous  March,  18th  September,  of  La 
Moriciere,  366 — Brave  De  Pimodan  mortally  Wounded,  376— Fall  of  An- 
cona, 377 — Protest  of  Russia  and  Prussia,  378 — Complicity  of  France  and 
England,  378 — Retribution,  378 — Allocutions,  379 — A third  Pamphlet  from 
Napoleon,  385 — Antonelli  Replies,  385 — Death  of  Cavour,  388. 

1860- 1862. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

GuizoPs  Views  on  the  Social  State  of  Europe  in  1861, 389 — Baron  Ricasoli  urges 
the  Holy  Father  to  abdicate  his  Temporal  Sovereignty,  390 — The  Hierarchy 
invited  to  the  Canonization  of  1862,  392 — The  Pope’s  Address  to  the  Bishops, 
393— Solemn  Condemnation  of  Modem  Errors,  395-398 — The  Encyclical 
Quanta  Cura  and  the  Syllabus,  398-401. 

1862-1865. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  September  Convention,  402 — How  Interpreted  by  the  Parties  themselves, 
403 — French  Army  of  Occupation  withdrawn  from  Rome,  404 — The  Centen- 
ary of  the  Martyrdom  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  405 — Contrast  betwen  the  Can- 
onizations in  Rome  and  the  Industrial  Exhibition  in  Paris,  409 — Artists  in 
Rome  protest  that  the  Temporal  Power  is  necessary,  407 — Beatification 
Decrees  Signed,  409 — Vast  Multitude  of  Pilgrims,  Priests,  and  Bishops,  410 
— The  Allocution,  411 — Celebration,  411 — Magnificent  Address  of  the 
Bishops,  415 — Touching  Presentation  from  the  Hundred  Cities  of  Italy,  416 
— Crowming  Glories  of  the  Centenary,  419. 

SEPTEilBER,  1864-July,  1867. 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Qaribaldian  Campaign  against  Rome,  421 — Defeat  of  Montana,  421 — Pius  IX. 
urges  the  Preparations  for  the  Council,  421 — His  Motive  not  a Definition  of 


XVI 


Table  of  Contents. 


Pontifical  Infallibility,  but  the  Intellectural  and  Moral  Well-being  of  Chris- 
tendom, 423 — The  Citadel  of  truth  to  be  Impregnable  to  Modern  Assailants, 
424 — First  Consultations  about  a General  Council,  424 — Commission  of  Direc- 
tion, 425 — Measures  for  ascertaining  the  Needs  of  all  Countries,  425 — Impu- 
tation  of  Personal  Pride,  425 — Dawn  of  the  “Old  Catholic”  Conspiracy  pre- 
ceded the  Pope’s  design,  426— Dollinger’s  Career,  Position,  Influence,  427 
— He  becomes  the  deadly  Foe  of  Ultramontanes  ; resolves  to  use  the  Bava- 
rian Government  against  the  Papacy,  427 — Bull  of  Indiction  or  Convocation, 
427 — The  Pope’s  purpose  clearly  Manifested,  429 — Invitation  to  the  Orien- 
tals, 429 — To  Protestants  and  non-Catholics,  429 — The  Pope’s  Golden  Jubi- 
lee of  Priesthood,  430 — Dollinger  begins  his  Crusade  against  the  Council,  432 
— The  Pope  made  to  appear  the  Tool  of  the  Curia  and  the  Jesuits,  432 — Jesuits 
held  up  as  the  worst  Enemies  of  the  Church  and  State,  434 — All  this  in- 
spired by  a Calumny  of  “Janus,”  434 — Peremptory  Proofs,  435 — The  Dis- 
cussion on  Pontifical  Infallibility  forced  upon  the  Council,  439 — The  final 
Issue,  443. 

September,  1867- July,  1870. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  Franco-Prussian  War  and  the  Invasion  of  Rome,  447 — The  Pope’s  Protest 
before  the  Diplomatic  Body,  448 — Encyclical  on  the  Last  Spoliation,  449 — 
Naboth  will  not  give  up  to  Achab  the  Inheritance  of  his  Fathers,  151 — How 
the  Youth  of  Italy  were  perverted,  451 — Processes  used  by  Jacobins,  by 
Mazzini  and  Garibaldi,  454 — The  Irish  Bishops  and  Pius  IX.,  457 — Reaction 
among  Catholic  Youth  of  Italy,  459 — Noble  Behavior  of  Roman  Ladies,  460 
Roman  Patriciate  head  the  Movement,  460 — Fidelity  in  every  Department 
of  the  Pontifical  Service,  461. 

September,  1870— August,  1871. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

“The  Days  of  Peter”  surpassed  by  Pius  IX.,  467 — Celebration  of  August  23, 
1871,  469 — The  Pope  declines  a Golden  Throne  and  the  Title  of  “ Great,” 
469-471 — Further  Suppressions  and  Confiscations  by  the  Piedmontese,  471 — 
The  Pope  nobly  defends  the  Jesuits,  472 — He  denounces  the  “ Guarantees” 
as  a Fraud,  474 — How  the  Persecution  in  Germany  began,  475-478 — Catholic 
Congresses  in  Germany,  479,  430— Catholic  Congress  for  Italy,  480 — Noble 
Men,  Noble  Words,  and  Noble  Deeds,  481-483 — The  First  American  Pilgrim- 
age, 484 — The  Fruit  of  Catholic  Unions,  485 — The  Pope  praises  and  blesses 
America,  486 — The  American  Cardinalate,  487— The  Laval  University  given 
Rank  among  the  great  Catholic  Universities,  487 — Centenary  of  the  See  of 
Quebec,  488 — Atrocious  Persecution  in  Poland,  488 — How  the  Orthodox 
Greek  CTiurch  makes  “ Conversions,”  489,  490. 

1871-1876. 

Chapter  XXXVI. — The  Episcopal  Jubilee  of  1877,  491-495. 

Cilapter  XXXVII. — Joys  and  Sorrows  crowning  the  Year  of  Jubilee,  505— 
Death  of  the  Persecutor  and  the  Persecuted,  527 — Pius  IX.  at  Rest,  529. 

Appendix. — 531. 


From  the  Right  Rev.  Joseph  8.  Alemany,  O.P.,  Archbishop  of  San  Francisco. 


San  Francisco,  Nov.  6, 1877. 

Rev.  Bernard  O’Reilly  : 

Rev.  Dear  Sir : I must  apologize  to  you  for  my  delay  in  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  the  beautiful  copy  of  your  “ Life  of  Pius  IX.”  which  you  kindly  sent 
me.  To  tell  the  truth,  the  cause  of  the  delay  was  mainly  yourself  ; for  your 
work  interested  me  so  deeply  that  I had  to  put  off  writing  to  you  till  I had  an 
opportunity  to  read  it,  and  an  opportunity  to  read  is  just  what  a bishop  seldom 
has  in  this  new  and  fast-developing  country,  constantly  creating  new  cares  and 
labor.  So  my  only  recourse  was  to  read  while  travelling,  and  take  along  in  my 
journeys  your  “ Pius  IX.”  and  have  it  make  with  me  the  episcopal  visitation  of 
my  dear  California. 

I acknowledge  with  much  pleasure,  that  it  was  always  with  pain  that  I was 
compelled  to  shut  the  book.  I am  not,  perhaps,  a great  judge  of  English,  but 
in  my  humble  opinion,  your  work  is  truly  excellent.  It  is  a most  precious, 
faithful  portrait  of  our  venerated  Holy  Father  ; it  describes  his  profound  mind 
and  his  noble  heart ; it  renders  manifest  the  innocence  of  his  life,  the  purity  of 
his  motives,  the  unceasing  assiduity  of  his  labors  for  the  welfare  of  his  people, 
his  holy  spirit  of  prayer,  his  eminent  love  of  God  and  man,  the  sweetness  of  his 
singularly  amiable  disposition,  his  invincible  fortitude  in  upholding  right  and 
truth,  and  the  apostolic  zeal  with  which  he  has  constantly  watched  over  the 
interests  of  the  Church,  undeterred  by  the  appalling  trials  of  this  longest  of 
pontificates. 

I do  not  hesitate  to  state,  that  I should  wish  to  see  your  “ Life  of  Pius  IX.” 
not  merely  in  the  hands  of  the  priests,  but  also  in  those  of  all  Catholics  and 
Protestants  ; for  it  shows  how  Christ’s  promise  of  unfailing  aid  to  His  Church 
is  visibly  fulfilled  in  his  worthy  Vicar.  Young  people,  especially,  should  read 
it ; for  while  they  are  liable  to  be  seduced  by  the  many  impious  productions  of 
the  day,  calculated  to  ensnare  them  into  secret  societies  under  the  plea  of  free- 
dom and  philanthropy,  they  can  easily  discover  in  your  work  what  false  sincer- 
ity and  enslaving  liberty  and  inhuman  humanity  are  the  results  of  such  un- 
christian associations. 

I am  sure  your  Life”  will  richly  repay  any  one  for  the  trouble  of  reading 
it ; for,  besides  refreshing  the  reader’s  mind  with  the  golden  treasures  con- 
tained in  the  Sovereign  Pontiff’s  allocutions,  it  is  written  in  such  entertaining 
and  eloquent  style  as  cannot  but  delight  and  benefit  those  who  can  appreciate 
truth,  right,  elegant  writing,  and  sound  Christian  sentiments. 

Thus  I hope  our  much-esteemed  and  imiversally-venerated  American  Cardi- 
nal will  overlook  any  intrusion  in  echoing  from  the  Pacific  his  high  approval 
of  your  work,  and  saying  with  him,  approved  and  commended. 

Tours  truly  in  Christ, 

Joseph  S.  Alemany,  O.P., 

Archbishop  af  San  Francisco. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


CHAPTER  1. 

Birth — Boyhood— Early  Education. 

1792-1809. 

SINIGAGLIA,  the  first  colony  founded  by  the  Romans  in  Cis- 
padane  Gaul  (or  Gaul  ‘^on  this  side  of  the  Po”),  was  called  by 
them  Sena  Gallica,  because  it  occupied  the  central  seat  of  the  tribe 
of  Senonian  Gauls  or  Celts,  who  had  conquered  Rome  in  the  year 
396  before  Christ,  and  were  finally  worsted  in  Umbria  and  the 
neighboring  provinces  a century  afterward.  The  ancient  munici- 
pium  or  town,  like  the  modern  city,  was  situated  partly  on  a gentle 
acclivity  overhanging  the  Adriatic,  and  partly  on  the  sloping  shore 
at  its  foot,  where  the  land  formed  one  of  the  small  natural  harbors 
so  unfrequent  on  that  coast.  This  maritime  position  was  used  by 
its  Celtic  masters  as  a centre  for  their  predatory  excursions  along 
both  shores  of  the  inland  sea  ; and  its  advantages  were  improved  by 
their  Roman  successors.  From  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  all  through  the  middle  ages  down  to  our  own  times,  Sinigaglia 
continued  to  be  a chief  resort  for  vessels  trading  on  these  waters. 
And  still,  when  the  month  of  July  comes  round,  an  annual  fair  is 
held  there  wliich  attracts  not  only  the  rural  populations  of  the 
neighboring  provinces,  but  a fieet  of  some  two  or  three  hundred 
sail  laden  with  the  varied  produce  of  the  Adriatic  and  Mediterra- 
nean seaboards.  In  truth,  most  of  the  coasting  vessels  are  built 
there,  Sinigaglia  containing  the  largest  dock-yard  on  the  Adriatic. 
It  is  also  a favorite  bathing-place,  thanks  to  its  smooth  and  shel- 
tered beach,  its  genial  climate,  and  most  interesting  environs. 

In  this  ancient  and  far-famed  city  was  born,  on  May  13,  1792, 
Giovanni-Maria  Giovanni-Battista  Pietro  Isidoro  Mastai-Ferretti, 
destined  to  fill  the  papal  chair  many,  years  longer  than  any  one  of 
his  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  predecessors. 


8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


The  Masta’i  originally  were  from  Brescia,  in  Northern  Lombardy, 
a city  in  which  Celtic  blood  had  forgotten  its  love  of  wild,  roving 
adventure,  without  losing  its  martial  fire  or  its  fierce  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence amid  the  currents  of  Venetian  activity  and  commercial 
thrift.  From  Brescia  Alberto  Mastai  had  migrated  toward  the  end 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  impelled  southward  by  the  desolating  wars 
of  that  age.  He  married  a wealthy  heiress  of  Sinigaglia,  and  added 
to  his  own  his  wife’s  name  and  title,  taking  thenceforth  rank  among 
the  Umbrian  nobility  as  Count  Mastai-Ferretti. 

The  head  of  his  house,  in  1792,  was  Count  Girolamo  (Jerome), 
gonfalonier  or  mayor  of  Sinigaglia,  Avho  had  married  his  towns- 
woman Caterina,  daughter  of  Count  Solazzi,  a lady  of  uncommon 
beauty  and  virtue.  Giovanni  was  the  youngest  of  seven  children. 
He  was  born  at  a time  when  his  father’s  fortune  but  ill  corresponded 
with  his  rank  and  official  position.  But  Count  Girolamo’s  life  of 
honorable  frugality  enabled  him  to  provide  for  his  large  household, 
while  his  retiring  habits  and  proved  public  virtues  helped  him  to 
conceal  the  absence  of  wealth  \)eneath  a generous  hospitality  and 
the  substantial  services  rendered  to  his  fellow  citizens. 

The  Countess  Caterina  made  it  her  chief  joy  and  exclusive  occu- 
pation to  form  the  minds  and  hearts  of  her  children,  never  relaxing 
her  motherly  care  till  the  boys  were  of  an  age  to  enter  college,  and 
the  girls  to  be  married.  Thus  the  palace  of  the  Mastai  ceased  not 
to  be  the  home  the  most  universally  respected  in  the  city  and 
neighborhood  of  Sinigaglia,  because  it  was  the  known  abode  of 
every  public  and  private  virtue. 

The  country  itself  in  which  Giovanni  first  saw  the  light — the  most 
eastern  portion  of  the  classic  Umbria — was  highly  favorable  to  the 
development  of  robust  health,  intellectual  culture,  and  eminent 
personal  sanctity. 

From  Eimini,  where  the  great  plain  of  Northern  Italy  terminates 
at  the  angle  formed  by  the  mountains  and  the  sea,  to  Ancona — the 
summits  of  the  mighty  Aj^ennine  chain  are  distant  only  some  thirty 
or  forty  miles  from  the  Adriatic  ; and  their  spurs  extend  in  nearly 
parallel  ridges  down  to  the  very  shore,  thus  forming  a series  of  val- 
leys perpendicular  to  the  main  direction  of  the  central  chain.  I'hese 
valleys  are  drained  by  rivers,  or  torrents,  rather,  for  the  most  part, 
all  of  which  have  an  historical  name,  in  spite  of  their  diminutive 
size. 

This  hilly  and  well-watered  country  is  free  from  the  malarial 


Birih. 


9 


fevers  tlicat  reign  like  a lasting  blight  along  the  western  side  of  the 
Peninsula ; it  is  also  favored  with  a more  temperate  and  bracing 
climate,  and  rewards  the  farmer  with  a rich  and  varied  harvest.  To 
the  traveler  passing  in  spring  or  early  summer  from  the  enchanting 
region  around  Bologna  to  Ancona,  Loreto,  or  Macerata,  nothing  can 
seem  more  beautiful  than  this  succession  of  fertile  and  picturesque 
mountain  slopes  and  uplands  covered  with  vast  plantations  of  the 
mulberry,  the  olive,  and  the  vine ; interspersed  with  fields  of  maize, 
corn,  tobacco,  fiax,  and  hemp.  The  rarest  flowers  of  north  and 
south,  growing  side  by  side  in  field  and  garden,  charm  the  sense  by 
their  mingled  colors  and  delicious  odors.  Cities,  whose  origin  some- 
times antedates  that  of  Kome  herself,  gem  the  coast  line  with  their 
stately  and  shining  edifices  ; hamlets  cluster  . among  the  olive  and 
mulberry  groves  on  the  uplands ; and  as  one  crosses  some  classical 
stream,  like  the  Eubicon  or  the  Metaurus,  the  valley  that  opens  in- 
land discloses  a monastery  with  its  shining  dome  or  tall  tower  nes- 
tling on  the  brink  of  a precipice,  high  above  the  rapid  torrent  in  the 
vale  beneath,  and  seeming  the  fit  abode  of  souls  raised  by  seclusion 
and  contemplation  above  the  passions  and  pursuits  of  earth. 

They  are  a thrifty  race,  the  immemorial  possessors  of  this  land  ; 
their  toil  has  made  every  foot  of  that  land  fruitful,  from  the  snow 
line  along  the  Apennines  to  the  sands  of  the  Adriatic.  There  is  not 
a patch  of  meadow,  nor  a slope  among  the  hills,  nor  a remnant  of 
the  primeval  forest  that  has  not  been  intelligently  turned  to  account 
by  men  who  know  the  value  of  what  nature  has  given  them,  and 
who  know,  as  well,  that  a right  use  is  not  exhaustion  or  destruction. 
The  plains  of  Lombardy — the  immense  extent  of  fertile  upland  and 
lowland  watered  by  the  Po  and  its  affluents — have  ever  been  and  are 
still  the  garden  of  Europe  ; the  intelligence  that  has  preserved,  im- 
proved, and  developed  their  immense  resources,  has  also  made  of 
the  eastern  and  western  slopes  of  the  Apennines  a marvel  of  hus- 
bandry and  productiveness. 

Nor  has  the  mineral  wealth  of  this  region  remained  a buried  and 
uncared-for  treasure.  In  a later  chapter  full  mention  shall  be  made 
of  the  way  in  which  the  industrial  arts  have  been  cherished  by  the 
people  and  protected  by  the  various  governments. 

They  are  no  ignorant  and  uncultivated  race  of  serfs  or  boors,  this 
people  of  Umbria  and  the  Papal  States.  If  the  love  of  all  that  is 
most  beautiful  in  outward  nature  is  among  them  an  hereditary  in- 
stinct, long  handed  down  by  one  generation  to  another  in  city,  ham- 


JO 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


let,  and  shepherd’s  cot,  it  is  no  less  certain  that  a lore  of  art  in  its 
every  pure  and  ennobling  form,  is  an  inborn  passion  among  all 
classes.  Their  churches  and  monasteries,  from  the  time  when 
Christian  bishops  built  up  modern  Italy  from  the  ruins  of  the  old 
pagan  civilization,  have  been  schools  where  the  True  and  the  Beauti- 
ful were  embodied  in  generations  of  living  saints,  before  their  forms 
were  reproduced  by  painter  and  sculptor,  or  their  principles  were 
expounded  by  moralist  or  theorist.  Not  a child  was  born  during 
centuries  within  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  whose  eyes,  as 
they  opened  to  the  loveliness  of  its  native  earth  and  skies,  did  not 
rest  from  infancy  to  the  grave  on  a world  no  less  lovely  of  the  beau- 
tiful creations  of  artistic  genius. 

There  is  not  a city  along  these  shores  that  has  not  given  birth  to 
a galaxy  of  men  illustrious  in  Church  or  State,  not  a hamlet  among 
these  teeming  valleys  and  populous  uplands  that  does  not  claim  for 
its  sons  and  daughters  men  and  women  who  have  left  a deathless 
name  on  the  lists  of  high  art,  science,  statesmanship,  or  sanctity. 

Urbino,  on  its  lofty  eyrie  within  a few  hours’  travel  from  Sini- 
gaglia,  can  still  show  amid  its  half-depopulated  streets  the  home  of 
Eaphael,  and  almost  beside  it  the  palace  where  Duke  Federigo  di 
Montefeltro  displayed  the  gentle  virtues  and  exalted  goodness  that 
we  admire  in  St.  Louis  of  France.  Cesena,  on  the  northern  border 
of  Umbria — whose  see  was  founded  by  a martyr-bishop  in  the  year 
92 — was  also  the  birthplace  of  two  martyr-popes,  Pius  VI.  and  Pius 
YU. 

Akin  to  them  in  generosity  of  spirit,  in  loftiness  of  soul,  and 
patient  endurance  of  ill,  is  that  child  of  Sinigaglia,  that  Ninth 
Pius,  whose  extraordinary  career  is  described  in  these  pages. 

The  year  in  which  he  was  born  was  a momentous  one — filled  with 
prophetic  warnings  of  deep  change  in  religious  and  social  institu- 
tions, no  less  than  in  the  tendency  of  men’s  thoughts  and  aspira- 
tions. In  France,  the  constitution  adopted  three  years  before  was 
set  aside,  the  king  and  his  family  dethroned  and  cast  into  prison ; 
the  autumn  was  made  terrible  in  Paris  and  other  cities  by  the  mas- 
sacre of  imprisoned  bishops  and  priests,  while  their  fugitive  bre- 
thren found  a hospitable  welcome  in  England,  or  crossed  the  At- 
lantic to  offer  the  aid  of  their  ministrations  to  the  solitary  bishop 
just  consecrated  (August  15,  1790)  for  the  church  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  first  month  of  1793  the  civilized  world  witnessed  with  min- 


Birth, 


T 1 

gled  amazement  and  horror  the  trial,  condemnation,  and  execution 
of  Louis  XVI.,  and  the  awful  tragedy  culminated  in  the  death  of 
his  heroic  queen  in  the  following  October. 

The  French  National  Conyention,  in  assuming  before  the  world 
the  responsibility  of  the  September  massacres,  and  in  proclaiming  a 
republican  form  of  government,  had  offered  their  brotherly  sympa- 
thy and  help  to  all  nations  desirous  of  setting  aside  monarchical 
institutions.  The  convulsion  that  had  overthrown  the  ancient 
order  of  things  in  France  shcTok  Italy  to  its  center.  The  revolu- 
tionary and  irreligious  frenzy  that  had  taken  possession  of  the 
French  people  was  contagious ; it  crossed  the  Alps  and  spread  from 
one  end  of  the  Peninsula  to  the  other.  Besides,  what  rendered  this 
frenzy  formidable  to  the  neighboring  nations,  was  the  fact  that  the 
Jacobin  clubs,  which  had  been  the  active  promoters  of  bloodshed 
and  every  extreme  measure,  had  also  covered  the  land  with  a net- 
work of  kindred  clubs  and  secret  organizations,  whose  professed 
object  was  not  only  to  secure  the  permanent  reign  of  radicalism  and 
irreligion  in  their  own  country,  but  to  labor  persistently  to  revolu- 
tionize the  whole  of  Europe. 

The  overthrow  of  the  Church,  of  the  papacy  in  particular,  became 
the  darling  aim  of  the  energetic  and  wide-spread  proselytism  which 
they  set  on  foot  in  Italy.  They  were  abetted  in  their  designs  not 
only  by  the  political  passions  that  had  evermore  divided  the  Italians 
among  themselves,  but  by  the  anti-Christian  philosophy  of  Voltaire 
that  had  taken  possession  of  many  minds,  and  still  more  by  the 
insidious  spirit  of  Jansenism,  or  Old  Catholicism,  represented  by 
such  men  as  Bishop  Eicci,  of  Pistoja,  in  Tuscany,  favored  as  he  was 
by  his  sovereign  the  Grand  Duke,  afterward  the  Emperor  Leopold 
II.  This  prince,  before  he  succeeded  on  the  imperial  throne  his 
brother  Joseph  II.,  had  bestowed,  like  him,  all  his  efforts  on  ruin- 
ing the  authority  of  the  papal  see  both  as  a spiritual  and  a tem- 
poral power.  Hence  bishops  and  priests  were  encouraged  to  set  at 
naught  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Koman  pontiff,  while  in  the  Eoman 
States  the  imperial  emissaries  countenanced  and  fostered  disaffec- 
tion and  revolt  among  all  classes. 

Pius  VI.,  who  had  in  vain  gone  in  person  to  Vienna  to  conciliate 
Joseph  II.,  was  insulted  by  a mock  show  of  reverence,  the  very  day 
of  his  departure  from  that  capital  being  marked  by  an  imperial 
ordinance  more  vexatious  and  oppressive  than  any  of  the  preceding 
measures  hostile  to  the  Church.  And  the  pontiff  only  returned  to 


12 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Italy  to  find  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  and  the  Riccian  faction 
more  actively  mischievous  than  ever. 

Such  were  the  seeds  sown  among  the  Catholic  populations  of 
Italy,  waiting  but  the  invasion  of  the  French  Radical  clubs  of  1792 
and  1793  to  burst  forth  into  full  blossom — seeds  which  were  to  bear 
such  lamentable  fruit  when  the  country  was  subsequently  overrun 
by  the  revolutionary  armies  of  France. 

From  the  memorable  13th  of  May,  1792,  when  Caterina  Mastai- 
Ferretti  was  blessed  with  a seventh  child,  destined  to  bear,  half  a 
century  afterward,  the  burden  of  the  name  of  Pius,  not  a month 
elapsed  without  the  organization  of  some  revolutionary  club  in  the 
Italian  States,  and  some  revolutionary  movement,  within  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Holy  See,  calculated  to  poison  the  popular  mind  against 
all  religion  much  more  even  than  to  excite  disaffection  toward  the 
civil  government.  The  rulers  of  France  were  firmly  resolved  to 
abolish  the  papacy ; they  created  causes  of  quarrel  with  the  reign- 
ing Pope ; forced  him,  in  February,  1 797,  to  cede  three  of  his 
provinces,  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  31,000,000  francs,  and  to  give  up 
to  the  despoiler  the  most  precious  art-treasures  in  Rome ; and  on 
February  20,  1798,  the  helpless  and  heavy-hearted  pontiff  was  hur- 
ried off  to  Florence,  and  thence  to  die  in  a French  prison. 

Such  were  the  sad  circumstances  amid  which  Giovanni  Mastai 
passed  from  infancy  to  boyhood.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  devotion 
taught  him  in  childhood  by  his  mother  was  to  pray  for  Pius  VI. , 
threatened,  oppressed,  and  plundered  in  his  capital ; and  then  to 
join  with  the  entire  household  in  the  prayers  offered  up  in  every 
Italian  home  for  the  imprisoned  pontiff.  His  earliest  tears  of  genu- 
ine grief  were  shed  when  the  touching  story  of  the  venerable  cap- 
tive’s sufferings  and  death  in  his  eighty-second  year  was  told  to  the 
weeping  Mastai  family.  How  little  could  the  fond  mother  imagine, 
as  she  taught  him  to  lift  up  his  innocent  hands  to  Heaven,  and  to 
lisp  his  prayers  for  the  Pope  lying  dead  in  the  citadel  of  far-off 
Valence,  that  her  darling  should  live,  a pope,  and  almost  a prisoner 
in  the  Vatican,  even  beyond  that  patriarchal  age  ! 

And  so,  in  the  Mastai  palace,  as  throughout  all  Italy,  pious  and 
pure  hearts  continued  to  plead  with  the  divine  mercy  for  the  needs 
of  the  Church,  till,  by  a miracle  of  providential  interposition,  the 
conclave  was  allowed  to  assemble  in  Venice,  and  to  elect  (March  14, 
1800)  a townsman  of  the  martyred  pontiff  to  bear  the  cross  after 
him. 


Boyhood, 


13 


The  meek  and  saintly  Seventh  Pius  was,  it  is  said,  like  his  kins- 
man and  immediate  predecessor,  united  by  blood  as  well  as  by  near 
neighborhood  to  the  Mastai  and  Solazzi.  The  new  Pope  found 
himself,  at  his  elevation,  exiled  from  his  see  and  people,  with  no 
earthly  aid  on  which  to  rely  save  Austria,  whose  rulers  had  almost 
consummated  a schism  during  the  lifetime  of  Pius  VI.,  and  Eus- 
sia,  a schismatic  power  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Church  of  Eome  from 
a secular  tradition  and  a settled  national  policy. 

For  the  city  of  Cesena,  then,  which  claimed  as  her  own  both  the 
new  Pope  and  his  martyred  friend  and  protector,  if  there  was  little 
cause  for  worldly  joy  in  the  distinction  thus  conferred  on  her  chil- 
dren, there  was,  on  the  other  hand,  deep  motives  for  indulging  in 
true  Christian  pride : the  Church  had  gone  back  to  the  period  when 
the  temporal  sceptre  of  the  pontiffs  was  but  a reed,  and  their  triple 
diadem  a triple  crown  of  thorns.  If  the  tidings  of  the  election  of 
their  fellow-countryman  to  the  perilous  honors  of  the  pontificate 
excited  perchance  any  thought  of  ambition  in  the  breasts  of  noble 
mothers  along  his  bright  native  shore,  this  time  the  ambition  would 
have  been  like  that  of  Christian  mothers  under  Decius  or  Diocletian 
— the  sublime  desire  of  seeing  their  sons  lay  down  their  lives  for 
Christ  and  his  flock. 

Such  were  the  sentiments  that  animated  the  Countess  Caterina 
Mastai-Perretti,  and  which  were  communicated  to  her  youngest  boy 
as  to  his  brothers  and  sisters.  He  was  a singularly  handsome  child, 
bright,  affectionate,  and  taught  from  infancy  to  love  the  poor  and 
show  them  every  mark  of  respect  and  helpful  sympathy.  True- 
heartedness has  continued  to  be  through  life  one  of  the  most  lova- 
ble features  of  the  man,  the  priest,  and  the  pope. 

Like  all  children  born  on  that  sunny  shore,  Giovanni  Mastai  was 
passionately  fond  of  rambling  through  the  beautiful  fields,  the  olive 
groves,  and  reaches  of  forest  that  cover  the  uplands  back  of  Sini- 
gaglia.  A favorite  companion  of  his  in  these  rambles  was  a farmer’s 
son  named  Guido,  some  years  older  than  himself.  One  day,  while 
Guido  was  occupied  in  angling  in  a brook,  Giovanni,  whose  little 
hands  were  too  weak  to  hold  the  fishing-rod,  waded  into  the  water, 
attempting  to  catch  the  tiny  fishes  as  they  darted  from  pool  to  pool. 
Guido,  wholly  intent  on  watching  his  line,  did  not  perceive  his 
companion’s  danger  till  a cry  from  the  latter,  who  had  slipped  and 
fallen  into  deep  water,  aroused  him.  Darting  instantly  to  the  res- 
cue, the  courageous  little  fellow  rushed  into  the  stream  at  his  own 


14 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


great  peril,  and  succeeded  in  bringing  bis  friend  safe  to  the  shore. 
There  had  been  more  danger  than  either  boy  then  knew  ; they  soon 
dried  themselves  in  the  warm  sunlight,  and  forgot  the  accident  in 
fresh  boyish  sports  and  adventures.  But  when  Giovanni  Mastai 
was  raised  to  eminence,  and  had  it  in  his  power  to  bestow  fortunes, 
he  remembered  his  playmate  and  savior  Guido. 

On  this  sweetness  of  temper  and  constancy  in  his  affections  was 
grafted  by  his  gentle  mother  a tender  and  enlightened  piety  ; while 
his  father’s  example,  as  well  as  her  own,  and  the  whole  atmosphere 
of  their  well-ordered  home,  inspired  a love  of  labor  lightened  by 
unfailing  cheerfulness,  and  a dignity  and  self-respect  that  bespoke 
nobility  of  soul  much  more  than  of  birth. 

The  cruel  exactions  by  which  Bonaparte  and  his  subordinates  had 
drained  the  treasury  of  Pius  VI.  and  exhausted  the  resources  of  his 
people  fell  heavily  on  Count  Mastai,  and  reduced  still  more  his  very 
slender  income.  Nevertheless  his  noble  companion  found  in  her 
rich  poverty  not  only  the  means  of  providing  for  her  children  and 
dependants,  but  of  helping  the  poor.  Her  husband,  meanwhile, 
devoted  the  time  left  him  by  his  public  duties  to  the  education  of 
his  boys.  It  was  a blessed  necessity  which  thus  compelled  them  and 
their  sisters  to  receive  their  early  education  exclusively  from  their 
parents — all  the  more  so,  that  the  mischief  done  during  these  mo- 
mentous years  to  the  youth  of  Italy  by  French  irreligious  and  revo- 
lutionary propagandism  was  more  wide-spread  and  lasting  than  the 
injuries  inflicted  by  French  occupation  and  oppression. 

Thus  grew  up  till  his  eleventh  year  (1803)  Giovanni  Mastai,  shel- 
tered against  the  moral  simoom  that  swept  over  Italian  souls  by  the 
walls  of  his  father’s  palace ; while  all  his  precious  qualities  of  heart 
and  mind  expanded  freely  amid  the  sunlight  and  genial  warmth 
diffused  by  his  admirable  mother’s  cheerful  and  unwearied  good- 
ness. 

The  boy  was  now  of  the  age  deemed  in  Italy  the  proper  one  for 
beginning  classical  studies.  Count  Mastai  was  not  dismayed  by  the 
additional  expense  the  sending  of  his  youngest  boy  to  college  must 
entail.  He  could  bear  any  privation  rather  than  see  one  who  prom- 
ised so  much,  left  without  the  educational  advantages  enjoyed  by  his 
elder  brothers.  So  to  the  college  of  Volterra  Giovanni  was  sent. 

No  better  choice  could  be  made  at  that  troublous  epoch,  just 
when  Bonaparte  was  plotting  to  have  his  title  of  consul  for  life 
changed  into  that  of  emperor,  and  when  the  position  of  things  in 


Early  Education, 


i5 


Italy  partook  of  the  uncertainty  and  dread  that  reign  on  hoard  a 
ship  during  the  interval  between  the  first  assault  of  a cyclone  and 
its  more  furious  return.  Volterra,  occupying  the  site  of  an  ancient 
Etrurian  city  (Velathri),  crowns  with  its  fortifications  the  summit 
of  a hill  1,602  feet  above  the  sea  level,  some  twenty  miles  from  the 
Mediterranean  and  forty  south-west  from  Florence.  The  bleak  and 
hilly  country  around  it,  its  remoteness  from  the  common  line  of 
travel  in  those  days,  and  its  isolation  on  a fortified  crag,  made  the 
college  of  Yolterra  a most  desirable  and  secure  retreat  for  a school. 
The  college  itself  was  under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Pious  Schools,”  an  order  founded  by  St.  Joseph  Casalanz. 

During  six  years  (1803-9)  Giovanni  Mastai’,  in  that  mountain 
solitude,  stored  his  mind  with  the  treasures  of  the  Italian  and  Gre- 
cian literatures,  growing  the  while,  as  his  contemporaries  affirm,  in 
every  outward  grace  and  interior  excellence.  He  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  conscious  of  that  comeliness  of  person  that,  united  to 
his  noble  birth,  must  have  made  him  everywhere  an  object  of  attrac- 
tion. The  charm  that  made  him  from  the  first  a universal  favorite 
was  his  sunny  disposition,  the  bright  warm  smile  that  bespeaks  a 
pure  and  loving  nature,  and  which,  even  Protestant  travelers  say, 
still  plays  over  the  wrinkled  features  of  the  octogenarian,  like  the 
golden  light  of  sunset  on  some  snow-clad  Alp.  He  was  truly  the 
light  of  the  college-hall,  his  face  ever  beaming  with  unalloyed  hap- 
piness, and  his  laugh  the  merriest,  and  his  wit  the  readiest  with 
joke  and  pun. 

Boy  as  he  was,  and  anxious  as  he  needs  must  have  been  about 
every  political  change  that  might  affect  his  worshipped  parents  and 
their  home,  he  carefully  listened  to  the  echoes  that  reached  his  old 
eagle’s  nest  at  Volterra,  from  the  busy  and  warring  world  below.  He 
heard  of  the  passage  of  Pius  VII.  through  Tuscany,  in  the  autumn 
of  1804,  as  he  went  perforce  to  crown  Bonaparte  emperor  in  Paris ; 
of  the  Italian  republic,  transformed  by  the  conjurer  into  the  king- 
dom of  Italy,  and  of  Napoleon’s  coming  to  Milan  to  be  crowned 
‘‘King  of  Italy”  (an  ominous  title  ! ),  May  6th,  1805.  Then  the 
Tuscany  in  which  the  lad  was  pursuing  his  studies,  after  having 
been  created  by  the  same  imperious  will  the  kingdom  of  Etruria 
in  1801,  was  again  obliterated  as  a kingdom,  incorporated  with 
Napoleon’s  empire,  and  in  1808  given  to  his  favorite  sister  Eliza, 
with  the  title  of  grand  duchess.  She  proved  afterward  a willing 
and  unscrupulous  tool  to  the  oppressor. 


i6 


Life  of  Pope  Phcs  IX. 


This  same  year  brought  about  the  most  remarkable  event  in 
Giovanni’s  college  career,  and  a change  in  his  health  that  had  well- 
nrgh  altered  the  whole  course  of  his  life.  The  grand  duchess  had 
no  sooner  taken  possession  of  her  beautiful  principality  than  she 
was  seized  with  a desire  to  visit  the  far-famed  Etrurian  fortress, 
with  its  unique  treasures  of  ancient  art.  The  College  Fathers  were 
fain  to  conciliate  the  good  graces  of  their  new  sovereign,  all  the 
more  so  that  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  emperor  toward  the  Pope 
was  daily  taking  a more  alarming  shape.  They  set  their  house  in 
order  and  forced  it  to  wear  the  face  of  welcome. 

The  students  prepared  a literary  festival  for  their  imperial  guest, 
and  the  young  Count  Mastai  was  selected  to  preside  thereat,  and  to 
deliver  the  most  exquisite  prose  and  verse  composed  for  the  occasion. 
The  royal  lady  was  charmed  with  the  youthful  poet-orator’s  modest 
grace  and  genuine  eloquence,  and  recalled  in  after  years  the  pleasure 
derived  from  this  entertainment  and  the  name  of  him  who  presided. 

He  was  now  beginning  his  seventeenth  year,  a tall  and  graceful 
lad,  with  a distinguished  and  serious  air  that  inspired  one  with 
respect  as  well  as  confidence.  His  masters  and  schoolmates  alike 
admired  his  solid  accomplishments  and  praised  his  deep  piety.  The 
whole  bent  of  his  inclination  at  this  period  disposed  him  to  devote 
himself  to  the  Church — plundered,  down-trodden,  and  persecuted  as 
she  was,  offering  to  such  as  served  her  no  other  lot  than  that  of  the 
early  apostles. 

But  just  then  appeared  the  first  symptoms  of  the  awful  malady 
that  threatened  for  years  to  render  all  his  gifts  useless,  and  to  make 
his  life  a burden.  To  his  doting  mother’s  dismay,  epilepsy  showed 
itself  in  its  most  distressing  form,  superinduced,  most  probably,  by 
an  overtaxed  brain  and  too  rapid  a growth,  if  not  a little,  also,  by 
the  painful  impressions  made  on  an  exquisitely  sensitive  organiza- 
tion by  the  continual  scenes  of  military  violence  witnessed  in  Sini- 
gaglia. 

Neither  mother  nor  son,  however,  lost  their  firm  hope  of  seeing 
the  distemper  as  mercifully  removed  by  the  Almighty  Physician  as 
it  had  suddenly,  and  to  them  unaccountably,  visited  them.  It  is 
mentioned  by  some  biographer  that  young  Mastai,  some  years  after- 
ward, was  advised  at  Eome  by  Pius  VII.  to  make  a pilgrimage  tc 
Loreto,  and  to  implore  the  special  intercession  of  Our  Lady  with  hei 
Son,  in  the  shrine  so  dear  to  the  Christian  world.  Mastai  may  hav( 
performed  a second  pilgrimage  to  Loreto  at  the  bidding  of  the  age« 


Early  Education. 


17 


venerated  pontiff ; but  many  reasons  lead  one  to  think  that,  on  his 
return  to  Sinigaglia  with  his  mother,  at  the  end  of  his  college 
course,  they  both  hastened  to  beseech  the  goodness  of  the  Incarnate 
God  in  that  holy  house  made  famous  by  so  many  favors  granted  to 
the  heart-stricken  at  his  Mother’s  prayer. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  health  of  the  pious  youth  was  so  far  restored, 
and  his  parents’  confidence  so  strengthened,  that  he  soon  returned 
to  Volterra,  this  time  with  the  purpose  of  consecrating  his  whole  life 
to  the  divine  service.  When  and  where  was  this  purpose  formed  ? 
We  should  not,  in  the  absence  of  positive  information  on  the  subject, 
we  think,  be  far  from  the  truth  in  surmising  that  the  resolve  to  fol- 
low the  Crucified  thenceforward,  in  poverty,  suffering,  and  self-sacri- 
fice, came  to  that  generous  young  soul  while  worshipping  within 
the  very  walls  in  which  a pious  tradition  will  have  it  that  the 
Eternal  Word  assumed  our  humanity  and  bound  himself  to  repair 
aU  its  ills. 

At  any  rate,  during  the  Ember-days  of  September,  1809,  all  Vol- 
terra was  edified,  Mastai’s  former  fellow- students  especially,  at  see- 
ing him,  like  another  Samuel,  presented  to  the  Lord  by  his  great- 
souled  mother,  and  receiving  at  the  hands  of  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  the  first  ecclesiastical  tonsure,  the  badge  of  the  soul’s  con- 
secration to  God  alone. 

A few  days  afterward,  in  the  beginning  of  October,  she  accom- 
panied him  to  Eome,  where  her  brother-in-law,  Canon  Mastai,  occu- 
pied an  honorable  position  in  the  Chapter  of  the  Vatican  Basilica. 
To  hiln  she  intrusted  her  boy,  now  unspeakably  dear  to  her  both  be- 
cause of  the  suffering  that  ever  hung  over  him  like  a dark  cloud, 
and  because  of  his  own  unworldly  ambition  and  undaunted  spirit. 

2 


CHAPTER  IL 


Vocation  to  the  Pkiesthood — Teials — Perseverance — Pius 
VII.  AND  Giovanni  Mastai. 

1809-1814. 

TO  appreciate  to  the  full  the  generous  abnegation  of  the  Countess 
Mastai'-Ferretti,  and  her  boy’s  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  we  should 
recall  to  mind  in  what  circumstances  they  found  Rome,  for  its  pon- 
tiff was  even  then  a prisoner  at  Savona,  on  the  very  shore  where 
Columbus  was  born. 

On  the  Feast  of  the  Purification  (Feb.  2),  1808,  the  French  troops, 
in  execution  of  a secret  order  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  had 
entered  Rome,  and  made  Pius  VII.  a prisoner  in  his  own  capital, 
surrounding  his  residence  at  the  Quirinal  Palace  with  a compact 
body  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  planting  a battery  of  artillery 
beneath  and  against  the  windows  of  his  apartments.  On  the  3d  of 
April  following,  an  imperial  decree  ^^irrevocably”  incorporated  the 
Papal  States  with  the  French  empire  ; the  Cardinal  Gabrielli,  bishop 
of  Sinigaglia,  and  pro-secretary  of  state,  was  exiled  to  his  episco- 
pal city,  all  the  other  cardinals  not  natives  of  the  Roman  States 
being  forcibly  expelled ; and  Cardinal  Pacca,  who  was  appointed 
secretary  in  Gabrielli’s  stead,  found  himself  obliged  to  advise  the 
Pope  to  resist  to  the  utmost  the  sacrilegious  usurpations  and  vio- 
lence of  the  French.  They  had  organized  a Civic  Guard,”  re- 
cruited from  the  very  dregs  of  the  population,  while  the  irreligious 
press,  which  they  established  and  supported  in  every  city,  used  all 
imaginable  devices  to  revile  the  Pope  and  his  counselors,  and  tc 
bring  into  discredit  not  only  priestly  rule”  in  general,  but  every- 
thing pertaining  to  the  Christian  religion. 

While  Giovanni  Mastai  and  his  pious  mother  were  performing 
their  pilgrimage  to  Loreto,  in  September,  1808,  and  parent  and  son 
were  praying  in  the  venerated  sanctuary  that  '‘the  shadow  of  the 
cross  ” might  pass  away  from  his  young  life,  a scene  of  unequalled 
interest  was  taking  place  in  the  Quirinal  Palace  at  Rome. 

On  August  the  24th  a proclamation  under  the  pontifical  seal,  and 

18 


Vocatio7i  to  the  Priesthood, 


19 


countersigned  by  Cardinal  Pacca,  was  posted  on  the  public  edifices 
of  Home,  condemning  the  organization  of  the  Civic  Guard/'  On 
September  6th,  Pacca  was  arrested  in  his  apartments  and  com- 
manded to  leave  Pome  forthwith  under  military  escort.  Having 
calmly  informed  the  French  officers  that  ‘‘in  Kome  he  received 
orders  of  the  Pope  alone,”  and  as  they  could  not  permit  him  to 
communicate  with  his  holiness,  a note  was  sent  to  Pius  informing 
him  of  the  dilemma  in  which  his  minister  was  placed. 

The  Pope,  as  the  great  secretary  affirms  elsewhere,  “was  the 
meekest  man  on  the  face  of  the  earth but  this  last  outrage  on  the 
freedom  of  the  sovereign  and  the  pontiff  transformed  the  lamb  into 
a lion.  Pius,  on  receiving  the  written  message  of  his  devoted  ser- 
vant, rose  instantly  from  his  seat  and  made  his  way  to  the  cardinal's 
apartments.  As  the  door  opened,  the  latter,  as  well  as  the  French 
officers  present,  were  struck  with  awe  and  amazement.  The  feeble, 
suffering  figure  of  the  Pope  seemed  animated  with  preternatural 
strength,  his  face  shone  with  the  light  of  unearthly  anger,  and  his 
hair  stood  literally  on  end,  as  he  gazed  round  the  room  like  one 
bereft  of  his  senses. 

“ Who  is  it  ? Who  is  it  ?''  were  the  only  words  he  could  utter. 

“I  am  the  cardinal,”  replied  Pacca  seizing  and  kissing  his  mas- 
ter's hand.  Presently  the  Pope  recovered  himself.  “Where  is  the 
officer  ? ” he  said ; and  as  the  Frenchman  advanced  respectfully, 
Pius  addressed  him  in  a voice  of  commanding  majesty  : 

“ Go  and  tell  your  general  that  I am  weary  of  all  these  insults 
and  outrages  from  one  who  has  still  the  effrontery  to  call  himself  a 
Catholic.  I am  quite  conscious  of  the  end  toward  which  all  your 
measures  are  directed.  They  aim,  by  cutting  me  off  gradually  from 
all  my  counselors,  to  render  impossible  the  free  exercise  of  my  min- 
istry and  the  defence  of  my  temporal  sovereignty.” 

The  holy  father’s  words  having  been  translated  to  the  French 
officers,  the  Pope  took  the  cardinal  by  the  hand  and  led  him  to  his 
own  apartments,  where  he  resided  till  the  6th  of  July,  1809,  when 
both  were  violently  borne  away  from  Eome. 

During  the  interval  the  Code-Napoleon  was  made  the  law  of  the 
land ; the  Pope  was  isolated  more  strictly  from  the  Italian  clergy 
and  from  the  Catholic  world  at  large  ; the  Masonic  clubs  and  secret 
societies,  which  preceded  and  followed  in  every  country  the  French 
domination,  covered  the  Peninsula  like  a network,  establishing 
their  chief  centres  of  activity  in  the  Koman  States  ; and  every  en- 


20 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


couragement  was  given  by  the  usurping  autborities  to  the  spread  of 
revolutionary,  obscene,  and  anti-Christian  publications. 

On  June  lOtb,  1S09,  the  military  governor  of  Rome  published  by 
sound  of  trumpet  the  imperial  decree  dethroning  the  Pope,  whose 
arms  were  replaced  on  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  by  the  French  tri- 
colors. That  very  same  night  the  celebrated  bull  of  excommunica- 
tion, Quum  memoranda  ilia  die,  was  nailed  to  the  usual  places  in 
the  Eternal  City.  Xine  days  later  Xapoleon  wrote  to  Joachim 
Murat,  whom  he  had  created  King  of  Xaples  : “I  have  already  told 
you  that  my  purpose  is  to  push  matters  in  Rome  vigorously,  and 
that  no  kind  of  resistance  is  to  be  tolerated.  If  full  submission  is 
not  yielded  to  my  decrees,  no  place  must  be  respected,  and  under 
no  pretext  whatever  must  opposition  be  permitted.  If  the  Pope, 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  his  ministry  and  of  the  Gospel,  preaches 
revolt,  and  is  wiRing  to  profit  by  the  immunities  of  his  position  to 
print  circulars,  let  him  be  arrested.  The  season  of  similar  scenes  is 
past  and  over.”  This  new  king  of  Italy  understood  perfectly  what 
was  meant  by  free  Church  in  a free  State  !” 

While  the  carriage  containing  the  captive  Pius  TII.  and  his  noble 
minister  was  driven  by  hurried  stages  toward  Piedmont,  a proclama- 
tion from  him  was  distributed  by  trusty  hands  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  The  concluding  paragraph  is  this  : 

“In  our  bitter  grief  we  shed  tears  of  joy,  blessing  God  the  eter- 
nal Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  God  of  all  consolation, 
who  gives  us  such  sweet  comfort.  And  this  comes  from  seeing  in 
our  person  the  fulfilment  of  what  was  foretold  by  his  divine  Son 
to  the  prince  of  the  apostles,  Peter,  whose  unworthy  successor  we 
are  : ‘ When  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shall  stretch  forth  thy  hands;  and 
another  shall  gird  thee,  and  lead  thee  ichither  thou  wouldst  not.^  ” 

If  the  far-seeing  spirit,  vouchsafed  of  old  to  those  prophets  who 
kept  alive  in  Israel  the  sacred  flame  of  divine  faith  and  hope,  had 
visited  for  a moment  the  anguished  soul  of  the  pontiff,  as  his  French 
captors  urged  his  flight  through  Poggibonzi,  and  within  sight  of  the 
towers  of  Volterra,  he  would  have  beheld,  in  the  comely  and  modest 
youth  waiting  for  God’s  message  there,  one  predestined  to  be  his 
own  successor  in  office  and  in  suffering,  and  in  whom  the  Redeemer’s 
prophetic  utterance  was  to  be  most  strikingly  fulfilled. 

At  any  rate,  when  the  young  levite  Mastai  arrived  in  Rome  with 
his  mother  on  that  sad  day  in  October,  1809,  there  was  little  in  the 
atmosphere  of  that  city  to  cheer  a worldly-minded  man  entering  on 


Preparation  for  the  Priesthood, 


21 


an  ecclesiastical  career ; but  to  the  spiritual  minded  there  was  in 
the  uniyersal  desolation  and  suffering  an  incentive  to  the  loftiest 
heroism  in  Christ’s  cause. 

The  schools  of  Rome,  like  all  its  ecclesiastical  institutions,  were 
disorganized.  Napoleon,  who  had  gained  the  momentous  victory 
of  Wagram  on  the  very  day  of  the  Pope’s  abduction  from  Rome, 
made  no  scruple  or  secret  of  using  his  unlimited  power  in  ‘^regu- 
lating ” religious  as  well  as  political  matters  in  liis  vast  empire.  He 
had  determined  that  the  Pope  should  be  his  subject,  his  servant, 
and  his  tool ; and  he  stopped  at  no  half  measures  to  reach  his  aim. 
No  pope,  or  bishop,  or  priest  was  to  be  tolerated  in  future  who  did 
not  bind  himself  by  oath  to  maintain  the  principles  formulated  in 
the  famous  “Four  Articles”  of  Gallicanism,  adopted  in  1682  (Ap- 
pendix A)  ; no  person  should  ever  be  promoted  to  any  dignity, 
papal,  episcopal,  or  priestly,  who  did  not  take  the  same  oath. 

The  men  who  governed  Italy  under  such  a master  were  fain  to 
vie  with  each  other  in  zeal* in  carrying  out  the  imperial  purpose. 
Cardinals  and  bishops  who  remained  faithful  to  their  conscience 
were  removed  from  their  sees,  exiled,  imprisoned,  and  refused  all 
but  the  bare  necessaries  of  life.  Priests  who  had  charge  of  souls, 
or  were  employed  as  professors  in  the  universities  or  diocesan  schools, 
underwent  a like  persecution,  if  they  persisted  in  not  acknowledg- 
ing the  righteousness  of  the  great  emperor’s  acts  and  pretensions. 
Nineteen  bishops  in  the  Roman  States  alone  had  thus  faced  and 
endured  the  worst ; while  fifty  of  the  noblest  priests  of  the  diocese 
of  Parma,  and  an  equal  number  from  that  of  Piacenza,  were,  by  the 
express  orders  of  Napoleon,  deported  to  Corsica,  and  others  were  con- 
veyed to  the  slave-gangs  of  Toulon.  And  this  was  no  exceptional 
treatment. 

The  professors  and  priests  of  Rome  were  not,  however,  terrified 
into  submission.  But  the  weak  or  wretched  men  whose  evil  merits 
obtained  for  them  preferments  or  professorships,  were  avoided  by 
people  and  pupils  alike. 

While  it  was  possible  to  follow,  without  disturbance  or  molesta- 
tion, the  courses  of  philosophy  and  theology,  the  young  Abbate 
Mastai  was  most  assiduous  in  his  attendance  at  lectures,  living, 
meanwhile,  beneath  the  roof  of  his  uncle,  and  completing,  under 
his  care,  the  instruction  derived  from  his  professors.  At  length 
Canon  Mastai'  was  called  upon  to  choose  between  his  conscience- and 
the  offers  of  a sacrilegious  promotion.  With  him  there  could  be  no 


22 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


hesitation.  So  the  year  1810  saw  uncle  and  nephew  once  more 
at  Sinigaglia,  where  the  venerable  Cardinal  Antonelli,  dean  of  the 
Sacred  College,  was  the  fellow-prisoner  and  guest  of  Cardinal 
Gabrielli  till  such  time  as  the  former  was  compelled  to  go  to  Paris. 

Tlie  city  was  kept  in  awe  by  a French  garrison.  But  the  presence 
of  these  men,  and  the  unceasing  exactions  with  which  they  harassed 
the  citizens  and  the  populations  of  the  surrounding  country,  did  not 
prevent  Giovanni  Mastai  from  pursuing,  with  unabated  ardor,  under 
his  learned  uncle,  the  studies  begun  in  Rome.  The  examples  and 
warm  encouragement  of  the  imprisoned  cardinals  added  fresh  zeal 
to  his  efforts.  His  father’s  generous  sympathy  did  not  fail  the 
student,  nor  did  the  heart  of  the  Countess  Caterina  stint  her  boy 
in  every  needed  demonstration  of  motherly  tenderness. 

Her  love  was  a priceless  treasure  for  him  at  that  critical  period  in 
his  life.  For  the  scenes  he  had  been  compelled  to  witness  in  Rome, 
the  emotions  caused  by  the  mighty  events  daily  occurring ; all  that 
he  had  beheld  on  his  homeward  journey  of  impious  change,  and 
what  he  daily  witnessed  in  Sinigaglia,  deeply  impressed  his  imagin- 
ation and  brought  on  worse  symptoms  of  the  old  distemper. 

The  gloom  over  every  true  Catholic  home  and  heart  in  Sinigag- 
lia, and,  indeed,  throughout  Italy,  deepened  during  these  years,  as 
tidings  of  the  inhumanity  shown  to  the  imprisoned  pontiff  and  his 
faithful  cardinals  were  circulated  everywhere  in  spite  of  the  utmost 
vigilance  of  the  imperial  police.  Young  Mastai  had  deemed  it  wise, 
at  the  suggestion  of  those  dearest  to  him,  to  lay  aside  his  clerical 
dress,  without  ceasing  to  cherish  in  his  inmost  soul  the  purpose  of 
becoming  one  day  God’s  priest.  Neither  bodily  infirmity  nor  the 
calamity  of  the  times  could  turn  his  will  away  from  that  goal  of  aU 
his  hopes. 

Indeed  the  young  man  deemed  it  a conscientious  duty  to  employ 
every  means  of  increasing  his  bodily  vigor,  and  thereby  of  attacking 
by  the  root  the  distemper  which  was  the  only  obstacle  to  these  hopes. 
He  resumed  his  rambles  over  the  neighboring  hills,  cultivated  all 
sorts  of  athletic  exercises,  and  lived  as  much  as  possible  in  the  open 
air.  Thereby  he  developed  a eonstitution  naturally  robust,  became 
a model  of  manly  strength  and  grace,  and  thus  laid  the  foundation 
of  a perfect  and  radical  cure. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Napoleon  conceived  the  design  of 
binding  to  his  cause  the  elite  of  the  Italian  youth,  and  decreed  the 
formation  of  a Noble  Guard,”  recruited  from  the  ancient  aristoc- 


Trials  : Pius  VII.  in  Exile. 


23 


racy  of  the  land.  No  previous  consent  was  asked  of  the  young  men 
themselves  or  of  their  families.  An  exact  census  of  every  noble 
family  in  the  Peninsula  had  been  taken,  and  lo  ! one  fine  day  an 
imperial  decree  was  published,  giving  the  names  of  the  young  Ital- 
ians composing  this  Noble  Guard. 

The  list  comprised  those  of  Giovanni  Mastai  and  his  brothers. 
What  followed  is  related  in  the  future  Pope’s  own  words  : My 
name,  without  my  knowledge,  was  put  among  the  rest.  But  as 
soon  as  I was  informed  of  it,  I took  care  to  have  my  name  struck 
out.  Napoleon’s  plans  were  such  as  could  not  be  executed.”  As 
to  the  oft-repeated  assertion  that  young  Mastai  had  embraced  the 
military  profession,  or  intended  to  do  so,  he  calls  it  ‘^an  unfounded 
notion,”  saying,  ‘‘I  never  had  any  idea  of  the  sort.” 

In  the  last  days  of  January,  1811,  Napoleon,  who  had  firmly  re- 
solved to  set  aside  forever  the  papal  authority  in  the  government  of 
the  Church,  was  completing  at  Paris,  with  an  ecclesiastical  com- 
mission,” the  preliminaries  necessary  to  the  holding  of  a National 
Council.  Among  the  churchmen  who  composed  the  commission 
were  many  servile  and  fawning  spirits  who  lived  only  on  the  breath 
of  their  imperious  master,  and  not  a few  good  but  weak  men  ever 
ready  to  sacrifice  the  most  vital  principles  and  inviolable  rights  of 
the  Holy  See,  rather  than  draw  on  themselves  and  their  order  the 
wrath  of  the  despot.  These,  one  and  all,  hung  on  Napoleon’s  lips 
and  watched  every  change  of  his  countenance  that  they  might  shape 
their  answer  to  his  wishes. 

There  was,  however,  in  that  deplorable  assembly — the  forerunner 
of  the  infamous  National  Council — one  true  man,  a simple  priest, 
the  worthy  head  of  the  congregation  of  St.  Sulpice,  the  venerable 
Mr.  Emery.  He  was  near  his  eightieth  year,  with  the  light  of 
eternity  already  dawning  on  the  evening  of  his  long  life  of  self- 
sacrifice.  The  eagle  eye  of  the  great  Emperor  had,  on  a former 
occasion,  discovered  beneath  the  bent  form  and  the  modest  mien  of 
the  aged  priest  a soul  far  superior  to  the  craven  crowd  of  dignitaries 
around  him.  While  he  poured  forth  a flood  of  invective  against  the 
captive  of  Savona,  and  his  indomitable  resistance  to  the  imperial 
will,  and  indulged  in  the  most  fearful  threats  against  all  who  should 
dare  to  offer  further  opposition,  his  eye,  as  if  fascinated,  rested  again 
and  again  on  the  saintly  countenance  of  the  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice. 
At  last  he  broke  forth  : 

‘‘Mr.  Emery,  what  do  you  think  of  the  authority  of  the  Pope  ?” 


24 


Life  of  Pope  Pms  IX. 

i 

Sire,”  was  the  reply,  after  glancing  respectfully  at  the  bishops 
present,  I can  entertain  on  his  authority  no  other  opinion  than 
that  expressed  in  the  Catechism  taught,  by  your  orders,  in  all  our 
churches.  To  the  question  put  there.  What  is  the  Pope  ? the  an- 
swer is  : He  is  the  head  of  the  Churchy  the  vicegerent  of  Christ,  to 
whom  all  Christians  oice  oledience.  Now,  can  a body  do  without 
its  head,  without  him  whom  the  divine  law  ordains  that  it  should 
obey  ? ” 

After  a further  development  of  this  doctrinal  fact,  the  Emperor, 
surprised,  but  not  displeased,  replied  : 

^^Well,  I do  not  question  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Pope, 
since  he  holds  that  from  Christ.  But  Christ  did  not  give  him  tem- 
poral power.  That  he  holds  from  Charlemagne ; and  I,  who  am 
Charlemagne’s  successor,  am  resolved  to  take  it  from  him,  because 
he  does  not  know  how  to  make  use  of  it,  and  because  it  prevents 
him  from  exercising  as  he  ought  his  spiritual  functions.  What  do 
you  say  to  that,  Mr.  Emery  ? ” 

‘^Sire,  your  majesty  reverences  the  great  Bossuet  and  takes  pleas- 
ure in  quoting  him  frequently.  I cannot  differ  from  Bossuet’s  re- 
corded opinion  in  his  Defence  of  the  Declaration  of  the  Clergy.  He 
expressly  maintains  that  the  independence  and  perfect  freedom  of 
the  head  of  the  Church  are  necessary  for  the  free  exercise  of  his 
spiritual  sovereignty  in  its  relations  toward  a multiplicity  of  king- 
doms and  empires.”  Then  he  quoted  from  memory  the  text  of 
Bossuet  (Appendix  B). 

Napoleon  listened  patiently,  and  replied  in  a calm  tone,  as  he 
always  did  when  he  met  with  firm  opposition  : 

do  not  controvert  the  authority  of  Bossuet,”  he  said;  ^'all 
that  was  quite  true  in  his  day  when  Europe  owned  the  sway  of  many 
masters.  It  was  not  then  befitting  that  the  Pope  should  be  subject 
to  any  one  sovereign  in  particular.  But  what  harm  would  you  see 
in  the  Pope’s  being  subject  to  me,  now  that  Euroj^e  acknowledges 
no  master  but  me  ?” 

Sire,”  was  the  inspired  answer,  ^^you  have  read  as  well  as  my- 
self the  history  of  revolutions  ; what  exists  to-day  cannot  last  for- 
ever ; and  the  dangers  foreseen  by  Bossuet  might  again  reappear  in 
Christendom.  We  must  not  change  an  order  so  wisely  established.” 

Happy  had  it  been  for  Napoleon  if  Providence  had  preserved  for 
a few  years  longer  the  life  of  Mr.  Emery  ! The  calamitous  National 
Council  would  have  never  been  convened,  and  Pius  VII.,  in  his 


Return  of  Pius  VIL  from  Exile, 


25 


complete  isolation,  would  not  liaye  fallen  into  the  snare  laid  by 
courtier  cliurcbmen  for  his  gentle  nature  and  unsuspecting,  child- 
like simplicity.  Emery  was  laid  to  his  rest  on  the  28th  of  the  ensu- 
ing month  of  April,  and  was  thus  mercifully  spared  the  spectacle  of 
the  captive  pontiff’s  betrayal  by  the  very  men  who  should  have  died 
to  save  him  from  dishonor ; he  was  spared  also  from  the  fearful 
series  of  calamities  that  came,  wave  after  wave,  to  beat  down  the 
throne  of  ‘‘the  sole  master  acknowledged  by  Europe.” 

But  the  storm,  raised  alike  by  the  divine  wrath  and  the  passionate 
vengeance  of  down-trodden  peoples,  also  broke  open  the  doors  of 
the  Pope’s  prison. 

Leaving,  on  January  23,  1814,  France  overrun  by  a tidal  wave  of 
armed  men,  the  Pope  was  conducted  under  an  escort,  commanded 
by  one  Colonel  Lagorse,  toward  the  Italian  frontier.  The  imperial 
orders  were  to  take  the  least  frequented  roads  and  to  preserve  a 
strict  incognito,  avoiding  everything  that  might  lead  to  popular 
demonstrations.  But,  somehow,  even  in  France,  the  very  earth 
over  which  the  pontiff  was  hurried  through  desert  pathways  seemed 
to  be  in  advance  conscious  of  his  approach,  and  poured  forth  crowds 
upon  crowds  to  acclaim  him  and  crave  his  blessing.  On  passing 
the  Rhone  at  Tarascon,  the  adjoining  cities  went  out  before  him  as 
one  man — such  a spectacle  of  love  and  veneration  and  tender  sym- 
pathy for  undeserved  and  heroic  suffering  as  had  never  been  heard 
of  ! Colonel  Lagorse,  furious  at  seeing  this  genuine  outpouring  of 
the  national  heart  in  behalf  of  an  aged  and  feeble  old  priest,  drove 
back  the  worshiping  crowd,  exclaiming  indignantly,  “You  rascals, 
how,  then,  would  you  behave  if  the  Emperor  were  passing  the 
Rhone?”  “We  should  make  him  drink  !”  was  the  reply.  At  this 
the  colonel’s  wrath  vented  itself  in  curses  and  threats.  “ Colonel,” 
at  length  said  one  more  determined  than  the  rest,  “would  you,  too, 
like  to  have  a drink  ? ” pointing  ominously  to  the  deep  and  rapid 
river. 

To  the  multitudes  who  lined  the  road,  night  and  day,  as  this  most 
triumphal  progress  continued,  the  Holy  Father,  in  his  deep  emotion 
and  unearthly  prudence,  could  or  would  only  say,  as  he  blessed 
them  : “ Courage,  my  children  ! and  pray  ! ” 

And  so  they  reached  Italy,  the  mighty  masses  of  the  Alps  proving 
insufficient  to  arrest  the  electric  current  of  filial  joy  and  exultation 
that  thrilled  the  Peninsula  to  its  center,  as  the  tidings  of  the  Pope’s 
liberation  and  speedy  arrival  hashed  over  the  land.  Prince  Eugene 


26 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Boauliarnais,  viceroy  of  Italy,  was  foremost  to  pay  liis  homage  to 
the  pontiff,  whom  he  had  formerly  lent  himself  to  annoy  and  oppress. 
Murat,  king  of  Naples,  now  in  arms  against  Napoleon,  to  whom  he 
owed  everything,  met  Pius  on  the  frontier  of  Parma,  and  was  as 
profuse  in  his  offers  of  assistance  as  he  had  once  been  unsparing  in 
insults  and  blasphemies.  The  high-souled  Pope,  disgusted,  only 
asked  that  he  might  be  protected  on  his  journey  toward  his  native 
city  of  Cesena — not  from  the  violence  of  his  Italian  children,  but 
from  the  uncontrolled  enthusiasm  of  their  love. 

With  the  first  return  of  the  lovely  Italian  spring,  Pius  VII.  came 
back  to  the  beautiful  city  in  which  he  was  born,  and  where,  in  the 
Benedictine  Convent  of  Madonna  del  Monte,  on  its  hill-top  near 
the  city,  he  had  spent  many  peaceful  and  happy  years  as  the  sim- 
ple-hearted, learned,  unworldly,  and  unambitious  Padre  Barnabe 
Chiaramonte. 

It  was  on  the  day  of  his  entrance  into  this  loved  and  ever-coveted 
abode  of  his  early  life,  that  the  Mastai  family,  with  all  the  popula- 
tion far  and  near,  met  Pius  VII.  and  knelt  at  his  feet  to  pay  him 
the  homage  of  their  heart-felt  reverence.  The  meeting  between  the 
pontiff,  whom  popular  opinion  in  Italy  and  throughout  the  Catholic 
world  surrounded  with  the  halo  of  the  ancient  martyrs  and  confes 
sors,  and  his  young  kinsman — whatever  circumstances  may  have 
attended  it — served  to  knit  these  two  souls  together  in  a mysterious 
and  holy  affection.  The  young  man,  as  he  knelt  for  the  blessing 
and  looked  up  into  that  sweet  and  heaven-lit  face,  might  well  be- 
lieve that  he  looked  upon  one  to  whom  could  be  applied  the  pro- 
phetic words  of  Isaias  : ‘‘1  have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone,  and 
of  the  nations  there  is  not  a man  with  me.  ...  I looked  about,  and 
there  was  none  to  help ; I sought,  and  there  was  none  to  give  aid  : 
and  my  own  arm  hath  saved  for  me,  and  my  indignation  itself  hath 
helped  me’’  (Ixiii). 

Giovanni  believed  then  that  a healing  virtue  went  forth  from  him 
who  had  suffered  so  much  for  Christ.  He  felt,  by  some  divine  in- 
stinct, that  the  hand  of  Pius  VII.  would  remove  every  obstacle  from 
the  path  on  which  he  had  set  his  heart.  We  shall  see,  further  on, 
how  these  anticipations  were  fulfilled. 

In  the  first  days  of  May,  Pius  learned  that  he  could  safely  return 
to  Rome.  He  stopped  at  Sinigaglia  on  his  way,  and  was  greeted  by 
the  noble  Gonfalonier  and  his  family.  Giovanni’s  soul  was  now 
exclusively  filled  with  the  hope  of  running,  in  God’s  cause,  a race 


fi^TON  COLLEGE  UfeRARr 
8HESTNUT  HILL.  MASS. 

Pius  VII . and  Giovarini  MaUa'i,  27 

of  abnegation  and  heroism  that  would  liken  him  to  bis  saintly 
countryman.  In  bis  company  be  departed  for  Eome,  arriving  at 
Ancona  on  May  12,  amid  demonstrations  of  unspeakable  joy ; tbe 
14tb  they  left  for  Osimo,  and  tbence  they  went  to  Loreto.  How 
often  in  bis  weary  years  of  exile  and  prison-life  bad  Pius  VII.  gone 
back  in  imagination  to  that  land  of  beauty  and  undying  faitb  so 
familiar  to  bis  boyhood,  and  to  that  loved  sanctuary  throning  on  its 
bill-top  above  tbe  Adriatic — tbe  spot  of  all  Italy  where  tbe  Mother 
of  tbe  Incarnate  God  most  delights  in  winning  souls  to  her  Son  ! 

On  tbe  memorable  24tb  of  May,  1814,  Home  threw  wide  open  her 
hearts  and  her  gates  to  welcome  Pius  VIL  Meanwhile,  tbe  begin- 
ning of  that  same  month  of  May,  bad  seen  another  sovereign  borne 
toward  tbe  western  coast  of  Italy,  and  landed  on  tbe  island  of  Elba, 
within  sight  of  tbe  towers  of  Vol terra.  Giovanni  Mastai,  who  had 
often  gazed  from  tbe  ancient  Etrurian  walls  at  the  distant  island,  as 
it  lay,  at  sunset,  like  a golden  cloud  on  tbe  Mediterranean,  might 
well  reflect,  among  tbe  tumultuous  rejoicings  of  Eome,  on  tbe  won- 
derful ways  of  God. 

We  shall  now  see  bow  bis  fatherly  providence  paved  tbe  way 
toward  tbe  goal  of  bis  desires  for  our  devoted  youth. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Theological  Studies — First  Labors  for  the  Poor  axd  the 
Ignorant — The  Crown  of  a Noble  Ambition — A True 
Mother’s  Reward. 


1814-1818. 

The  momentary  withdrawal  of  the  Pope  to  Genoa,  from  March 
22,  1815,  to  the  end  of  July,  was  only  a measure  of  prudence,  as 
both  the  Grand  Duchess  Eliza  and  Murat  had  resolved  to  seize  and 
hold  Pius  VII.  as  a hostage  for  the  safety  of  Napoleon,  should  the 
latter’s  return  to  France  end  in  putting  his  life  in  peril.  When  the 
Pope  resumed  the  government  of  his  States,  he  made  the  restora- 
tion of  studies  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  his  care.  No  words  can 
express  the  mischief  done  to  the  youth  of  Italy,  and  above  all  to  the 
youth  of  the  Papal  States,  by  the  active  irreligious  propagandism 
set  on  foot  by  the  French  Republicans,  and  afterward  maintained 
by  the  imperial  authorities.  During  the  Pope’s  exile  he  had  learned 
from  the  most  eminent  men,  in  Church  and  State,  the  irreparable 
ruin  caused  to  society  in  France,  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  their 
colonial  empire,  as  well  as  in  Germany,  by  the  suppression  of  the 
Jesuit  schools.  The  Pope,  who  was  a Benedictine,  and  nowise  pre- 
judiced by  education  or  the  traditions  of  his  own  Order  in  favor  of 
the  extinct  Society,  could  not  help  seeing  that  priests  who  were  so 
highly  prized  in  their  misfortune  by  Frederick  the  Great,  and  by 
Catherine  II.  of  Russia,  must  be  also  deserving  of  the  esteem  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs. 

The  Jesuits  were  restored  on  August  7,  1814.  Men  who  had 
matured  beneath  the  wintry  skies  and  amid  the  bitter  national  pre- 
judices of  Russia  the  intellectual  accomplishments  and  supernatural 
virtues  befitting  the  teachers  and  apostles  of  Christendom,  now  has- 
tened to  Rome  to  continue  the  work  of  their  predecessors,  as  if  it 
had  been  interrupted  only  the  day  before.  But  a wide  and  deep 
gulf  separated  the  new  order  of  things  from  the  old,  and  the  Roman 
youth  of  1814  from  that  of  1773.  The  men  whom  Pius  VII.  thus 

28 


Theological  Studies, 


29 


summoned  to  liis  aid,  as  from  among  tlie  dead,  were  not  the  men  to 
be  discouraged  by  diflaculties.  Of  those  who  came  up  from  the 
depths  of  Eussia  at  his  bidding,  there  were  some  who,  when  the 
Society’s  ill  fortune  had  reached  its  darkest  hour,  had  walked  joy- 
ously on  foot  all  the  way  from  the  furthest  extremities  of  France 
and  Holland,  to  the  heart  of  the  Eussian  empire,  that  they  might 
have  the  happiness  of  wearing  the  livery  of  the  calumniated  Order. 
"When  the  bull  of  restoration  was  published,  others  were  found 
among  their  brethren,  who  walked  exultantly  on  foot  all  the  way 
from  Eussia  to  the  city  of  the  holy  apostles. 

If  Giovanni  Mastai  did  not  learn  under  such  masters  the  lessons 
of  theological  science,  he  learned  from  them  what  was  of  still  more 
vital  importance,  the  precious  methods  by  which  the  souls  of  the 
ignorant  and  the  erring  are  reached,  enlightened,  and  transformed, 
and  the  homes  of  the  poor  made  bright.  And  his  was  a soul  apt  to 
prize  such  methods  and  to  lay  them  well  to  heart. 

There  was  in  the  atmosphere  of  Eome,  when  the  great  wave  of 
French  domination  had  retired  from  Italy,  not  a little  that  resembled 
its  moral  aspect  when  the  Christian  religion  began  to  breathe  freely 
under  Constantine.  Scarcely  a bishop,  a priest,  or  a deacon  could 
be  met  with  in  the  churches  that  had  not  suffered  for  the  faith 
torture,  stripes,  imprisonment,  exile,  or  beggary.  The  aspirants  to 
the  priestly  order  looked  up  to  their  elders  as  to  divine  men  whom 
Buffering  had  stamped  with  a godlike  character. 

Young  Mastai  had  begun  to  attend  the  schools  of  theology  in  his 
lay  dress,  as  well  from  a motive  of  prudence  begotten  by  the  uncer- 
tainties of  the  time  as  from  a fear  of  the  invidious  malady  that  still 
lurked  beneath  the  outward  appearance  of  brilliant  youth  and  un- 
impaired vigor.  With  the  final  return  of  the  Pope  from  Genoa  all 
apprehension  of  change  was  at  an  end ; and  the  young  man  resumed 
his  clerical  costume. 

Among  his  teachers  there  was  one  to  whom  he  became  much 
attached,  and  who  exercised  great  influence  on  his  after-life  : this 
was  Professor  Graziosi.  Among  his  fellow-students  was  also  one 
destined  to  a wider  fame,  and  who,  as  it  is  believed,  contributed  not 
a little  both  to  Mastai’s  future  elevation  and  to  some  of  the  most 
momentous  measures  of  his  early  pontificate  ; this  was  Father  Ven- 
tura. 

The  restored  Jesuits,  on  their  arrival  in  Eome,  devoted  themselves 
to  the  same  labors  which  had  endeared  them  so  much  to  all  classes 


30 


of  Pope  Plus  IX, 


of  the  Roman  population  under  Paul  III. : they  made  superhuman 
exertions  to  collect  wheresoever  they  might  the  neglected  children 
of  Rome,  and  to  teach  them  the  elements  of  the  Christian  doctrine. 
Sunday-schools  were  organized  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  made 
attractive  by  singing  and  all  the  arts  that  captivate  the  young  fancy. 
They  enlisted  as  catechists  the  most  zealous  and  distinguished  among 
the  Roman  students — the  nobly-born  especially — and  among  them 
the  Abbate  Mastai  became  conspicuous.  The  old  brotherhoods  and 
guilds  devoted  to  the  works  of  beneficence  and  mercy  were  set  on 
foot  and  fired  with  a new  zeal ; while  other  confraternities  were 
created  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  necessities  of  the  sad  change 
made  among  a believing  population  by  the  i:)rotracted  sway  of 
avowed  skepticism  and  open  unbelief. 

In  all  these  labors  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  and  the  laboring 
classes  Mastai  was  foremost  among  the  most  zealous,  his  handsome 
person,  pleasing  address,  and  ready  eloquence  giving  him  great 
power  over  old  and  young  alike. 

Indeed,  his  hearty  devotion  to  his  task  could  not  but  bring  a 
blessing  on  himself,  while  making  him  widely  and  most  favorably 
known  to  his  ecclesiastical  superiors ; so  favorably,  in  truth,  that 
in  1818  Monsignor  Carlo  Odescalchi  (afterward  cardinal-vicar  of 
Rome  under  Gregory  XVI.)  selected  him  as  his  companion  and  spe- 
cial catechist,  during  a missionary  tour  w^hich  he  and  the  venerable 
Bishop  Strambi,  of  Macerata,  w^ere  about  to  make  in  Sinigaglia  and 
the  neighboring  country  places. 

The  provinces  along  tlie  northern  coast  of  the  Adriatic  had  been 
longest  under  French  rule,  and  had  been  made  the  favorite  field  of 
revolutionary  and  anti-Christian  zeal.  In  Italy,  as  in  every  country 
where  the  French  arms  prevailed  for  any  length  of  time,  the  very 
worst  elements  of  the  population  were  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  the 
invaders.  When  a free  license  for  the  most  odious  vices  was  not  a 
sufficient  inducement,  the  great  words  of  liberty,  humanity,  and 
fraternity  served  as  a lure  to  the  unwary  and  a mask  to  the  evil- 
minded.  The  very  dregs  of  the  population,  as  in  France,  rose  into 
power,  were  placed  in  office,  became  members  of  the  clubs,  helped  to 
oppress  and  to  plunder  the  clergy,  the  churches,  and  the  monas- 
tic establishments ; and  when  their  evil  reign  came  to  an  end,  they 
remained  behind,  still  conspiring  in  their  clubs,  spreading  actively 
through  the  laboring  and  agricultural  classes  their  principles,  their 
passions,  and  subversive  designs. 


The  Crown  of  a Noble  Ambition 


3^ 


One  can  easily  understand  how  heartily  the  Ahhate  Masta'i  gave 
himself  to  his  share  of  this  spiritual  crusade,  llis  family  had  always 
been,  and  were  still,  most  popular  in  Sinigaglia  and  the  country 
round  about ; he  had  been  himself  a universal  favorite  in  childhood 
and  boyhood,  and  not  a little  sympathy  had  followed  him  to  Rome, 
when  he  gave  up  every  worldly  prospect  and  faced  seemingly  insuper- 
able obstacles  to  become  a priest.  On  his  reappearance  among  his 
townsmen  and  neighbors,  with  two  of  the  most  gifted  and  saintly  men 
produced  by  the  Italy  of  our  age,  he  was  allotted  the  task  of  giving 
familiar  doctrinal  and  moral  instruction  to  the  people,  particularly 
of  preparing  the  children  and  first  communicants  for  the  sacrament. 

He  displayed  uncommon  talent ; his  imposing  presence,  youthful 
. mien,  and  singularly  sweet  and  powerful  voice,  lending  eflicacy  to 
great  natural  eloquence.  But  it  was  the  Spirit  of  God  that  gave  an 
irresistible  unction  to  the  young  preacher’s  exhortation.  The  good 
effected  by  the  missioners  was  extraordinary,  and  was  most  gratify- 
ing to  Pius  VII.,  who  felt  a deep  personal  interest  in  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  his  native  province.  But  the  praises  bestowed  by  the  two 
prelates  on  their  youthful  associate,  went  to  the  heart  of  Pius,  and 
decided,  once  for  all,  the  destiny  of  Giovanni  Mastai. 

His  delighted  mother  witnessed,  with  unutterable  gratitude,  during 
his  labors  around  Sinigaglia,  the  great  improvement  that  had  taken 
place  in  his  health.  This  had  been  the  constant  subject  of  her 
earnest  pleadings  at  the  throne  of  mercy  for  the  last  nine  years ; and 
now  she  besought  the  divine  goodness  with  increased  fervor.  How 
could  such  a mother’s  prayers  remain  unanswered. 

Monsignor  Odescalchi,  in  reporting  to  the  Pope  the  success  of  his 
mission,  did  not  hesitate  to  recommend  that  young  Mastai  should  be 
forthwith  admitted  to  holy  orders.  He  was,  in  consequence,  ordained 
subdeacon,  on  December  the  18th,  1818,  and,  at  his  own  earnest 
request  to  the  holy  father,  admitted  successively  to  deaconship  and 
priest’s  orders  during  the  Lent  of  1819. 

While  pleading  for  this  supreme  favor  to  his  revered  friend  and 
benefactor,  he  touched  the  heart  of  the  kind  old  man.  Is  there  not 
a divine  instinct  in  the  impulses  which  incline  the  good  and  pure- 
minded,  particularly  when  they  are  in  high  office,  to  grant  the 
prayers  of  such  as  ask  for  what  is  intended  primarily  for  the  divine 
honor  ? Seizing  affectionately  the  hand  of  the  young  suppliant,  the 
august  sufferer  bade  him  he  of  good  cheer  : We  grant  you  what  you 
ask,  dear  son,”  was  the  gentle  response  to  his  prayer,  because  it  is 


32 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


our  conviction  that  this  disease  "will  never  again  afflict  you.”  It  is 
said  that  the  prediction  has  not  yet  been  falsified,  after  a lapse  of 
sixty  years ! 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  Pope,  to  remove  all  cause  for  undue  appre- 
hension and  nervousness  during  the  first  months  after  Giovanni’s 
ordination,  advised  him  to  have  a priest  by  his  side  while  celebrating 
the  holy  sacrifice. 

From  the  earliest  Christian  ages  no  event  in  a family  of  believers 
was  attended  with  such  solemnity  and  pious  exultation  as  the  eleva- 
tion of  one  of  its  members  to  the  priesthood,  and  the  first  celebration 
by  him  of  the  august  mysteries  commemorative  of  the  oblation  of 
Calvary.  We  leave  to  the  reader  to  fancy  what  must  have  been  the 
joy  of  the  Countess  Caterina  on  the  day  when  her  son  received  the 
imposition  of  hands  with  the  priestly  unction.  But  we  must  de- 
scribe the  scene  of  the  young  priest’s  first  mass. 

To  the  west  of  the  elevation  crowned  by  the  ancient  Capitol,  in 
what  was  once  a wooded  valley  sloping  down  to  the  Tiber,  is  a quarter 
known  as  that  of  ‘^The  Carpenters,”  Dei  Falegnami,  Between  the 
wide  street  bearing  that  name,  and  the  narrow  lane  of  Santa  Anna, 
to  the  north  of  it,  is  a block  containing  an  industrial  school,  well 
known  as  the  Ospizio  (Asylum)  Tata  Giovanni^  affording,  in  the 
spring  of  1819,  refuge  and  education  to  a little  more  than  a hundred 
homeless  boys.  Adjoining  this  establishment,  of  which  we  shall  say 
more  presently,  is  the  obscure  Church  of  Santa  Anna,  that  serves  as 
a chapel  to  the  institution. 

The  Abbate  Mastai  had  become  acquainted  with  the  asylum  and 
church  during  his  student-life  in  Eome,  and  while  devoting  his 
leisure  hours  to  obscure  works  of  charity.  He  had  asked,  as  a privi- 
lege, to  be  allowed  to  instruct  these  little  castaways  in  the  Christian 
doctrine,  and  the  lowly  church  in  that  obscure  corner  of  Eome  was 
the  place  where  he  had  spent  many  an  hour  in  bringing  home  to  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  his  rapt  hearers  the  loveliness  of  Christ  and  his 
truth,  and  the  happiness  of  serving  him  faithfully.  The  boys  had 
become  much  attached  to  their  youthful  teacher  and  friend,  whose 
face,  as  he  spoke  of  the  Master  and  his  life  of  love  and  labor  for  our 
sakes,  was  wont  to  shine  as  that  of  an  angel.  And  he,  as  is  the  law 
of  true  goodness,  loved  the  place  and  the  boys  the  more  he  gave  them 
of  his  time  and  devotion. 

How  often,  when  the  lesson  was  ended  and  the  orphaned  ones  had 
gone  back  to  their  usual  occupations,  may  not  the  depressed  but  ever- 


A True  Mother  s Reward, 


33 


hopeful  soul  of  the  unselfish  catechist  haye  Tented  itself  before  the 
altar  of  the  little  church  in  earnest  supplication  that  the  time  of 
waiting  might  be  shortened  to  him  ! 

It  is  that  modest  sanctuary  which  loving  hands  have  been  decking 
all  the  previous  Holy  Saturday ; and  on  that  altar,  with  the  dawn 
of  the  resurrection  mom,  1819,  Giovanni  Mastai  offers  up  the  body 
which  reposed  incorrupt  in  the  sepulchre,  as  it  does  in  our  taber- 
nacles. There  are  joys  here  below  unlike  anything  in  human  expe- 
rience on  this  side  of  Heaven — because  they  are  themselves  a fore- 
taste of  heaven — the  brief  but  overwhelming  presence  in  the  Chris- 
tian bosom  of  him  we  are  to  possess  and  hold  eternally.  There  are 
days  and  solemnities  on  which  he,  who  even  in  this  exile  is  ever  so 
near  us,  floods  the  heart  that  seeks  him  and  his  interests,  above  all 
the  treasures  and  pursuits  of  earth,  with  an  ecstasy  that  overflows 
every  boundary  of  sense,  transforming  the  countenance,  winging 
our  words  with  heavenly  fire,  and  thrilling  others  as  with  the  shock 
of  a hidden  power.  Surely,  when  these  pure  priestly  hands  brought 
‘rthe  Lamb  of  God’’  to  the  adoring  mother  kneeling  at  that  altar, 
and  placed  on  her  tongue  the  Giver  in  his  divinest  gift,  she  must 
have  felt  more  than  rewarded  for  her  sacrifice  to  God  of  her  best- 
loved, and  for  all  the  tender  anxiety  and  weary  watching  and  waiting 
of  these  years.  And  the  noble  father  too, — for  his  were  the  faith  and 
love  of  the  true  Christian — had  he,  like  the  patriarchs  of  old,  been 
favored  then  and  there  with  a vision  of  his  boy-priest’s  destinies, 
he  would  have  risen  from  that  spot  singing  with  Simeon  in  his 
heart  of  hearts : 

“Now  tbou  dost  dismiss  thy  servant,  0 Lord,  • 

According  to  tliy  word  in  peace. 

Because  my  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation, 

Which  thou  hast  prepared. 

Before  the  face  of  all  peoples.” 

He  might  well,  turning  to  the  mother,  have  added  : ^‘Behold  this 
[child]  is  set  for  the  fall  and  for  the  resurrection  of  many  in  Israel, 
and  for  a sign  which  shall  be  contradicted.” 

There  was  sweet  music,  too,  in  that  little  sanctuary.  Young  hearts 
singing  praises  to  God,  on  that  lovely  Easter  morning,  as  Italian 
children  can  sing  when  moved  by  piety  and  gratitude.  They  were 
to  benefit  still  farther  by  the  devoted  care  of  that  young  priest ; 
most  of  them  were  to  acclaim  him  with  the  enthusiastic  crowd  when 
3 


34 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


his  very  name  could  in  after  years  thrill  all  Italy  to  its  centre ; many 
of  them  would  live  to  see  him  a fugitive,  and  all  but  a prisoner 
within  the  city  that  once  idolized  him,  and  not  a few,  perhaps,  would 
live  to  kneel  for  one  more  blessing  from  that  dear  hand  on  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  episcopal  consecration. 

What  viscissitudes  and  crosses  mark  the  sixty  years  commencing 
with  that  memorable  Easter-tide  I Over  that  glorious  pathway  of 
devotion,  suffering,  and  triumph  we  have  now  to  guide  the  reader. 


CHAPTER  lY. 


Labors  among  the  Orphan  Boys — Sent  to  Chili  with  the 
Delegate  Apostolic — Labors  in  the  Industrial  Schools 
OF  Rome. 


1819-1827. 

PIUS  VII.,  himself  a devoted  lover  of  the  obscurity,  poverty,  and 
crucified  life  of  the  cloister,  could  not  help  divining  in  the 
thirst  of  abnegation  and  zeal  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  poor, 
so  apparent  in  his  protege,  the  earnest  of  a career  fruitful  in  holy 
deeds  and  eminent  services  to  the  Church.  This  precious  disposi- 
tion the  saintly  pontiff  determined  to  encourage  and  foster  to  the 
utmost. 

He  was  made  too  happy  by  all  that  was  told  him  of  the  good  done 
at  ^‘Tata  Giovanni,”  not  to  grant  his  friend  the  opportunity  of 
enlarging  his  sphere  of  action.  He,  therefore,  placed  Mastai,  to  the 
latter’s  infinite  delight,  at  the  head  of  the  asylum  itself. 

The  reader  will  not  regret  to  learn  a few  details  about  the  origin 
of  this  establishment,  the  creation  of  a poor  uneducated  journeyman 
mason,  all  the  more  so  that  it  is  to  be  the  loved  theater  of  Mastai’s 
labors  during  the  next  four  years. 

Giovanni  Borgi,  then,  lived  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
toiling  for  a small  pittance  at  his  craft  as  a mason  around  the  Church 
of  St.  Peter’s.  He  could  neither  read  nor  write,  was  unmarried,  and 
spent  almost  the  entire  time  left  him  after  his  daily  labor  in  the  hos- 
pitals tending  the  sick,  or  in  some  poor  hovel  where  pined  and 
groaned  some  lonely  sufferer.  Indeed,  he  was  endowed  with  a most 
powerful  scent  in  tracking  the  worst  cases  of  this  kind.  And  when 
he  had  found  some  wretched  being  all  helpless  and  forsaken  in  his 
dire  need,  Giovanni  was  wont  to  spend  the  whole  night  watching, 
consoling,  tending  him,  content,  when  daylight  brought  the  hours 
of  labor,  to  suffer  the  scoffs  and  bantering  of  his  companions,  as  he 
nodded  over  his  bricks  and  mortar. 

At  length  the  good  man  was  moved  to  compassion  at  seeing  the 
numbers  of  ragged,  barefooted,  and  hungry  boys  lying  asleep  by  night 

35 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


36 

on  the  steps  of  the  great  churches  or  huddled  together  in  some  shel- 
tered comer.  Some  of  these  he  took  to  his  own  lodging,  rented  for 
their  use  the  ground  floor  of  the  house,  clad  them,  fed  them,  had 
them  prepared  for  confession  and  communion,  and  then  apprenticed 
to  some  honest  mechanic.  lie  was  thoroughly  in  earnest ; the  work 
grew  on  his  hands,  friends  came  to  his  assistance,  priests  and  laymen 
became  his  helpers,  found  him  money,  organized  a society,  opened 
an  asylum,  and  effected  so  much  good,  that,  in  1784,  Pius  VI.  gave 
the  work  his  blessing,  and  thenceforth  its  success  was  assured. 

The  Palazzo  Ruggia  was  purchased,  and  afforded  a daily  refuge  to 
about  one  hundred  boys.  As  these  little  vagrants  called  their  ben- 
efactor by  no  other  name  than  Tata  Giovanni,  equivalent  to  the 
familiar  English  ‘‘Daddy  John,”  the  new  institution  became  popu- 
larly knowm  by  that  name.  By  degrees  the  temporary  asylum  be- 
came a home  for  these  houseless  wanderers,  and  the  home  soon 
became  a school.  Priests,  professors,  prelates,  and  noblemen  would 
spend  some  hours  every  evening  teaching  the  inmates  reading,  writ- 
ing, arithmetic,  and  the  elementary  branches  of  knowledge  necessary 
to  tradesmen.  Then  skilled  mechanics  volunteered  to  instruct  them. 
At  flrst  the  boys  were  sent  out  to  work  by  day,  returning  to  the 
asylum  in  the  evening.  Soon,  however,  Giovanni  was  enabled  to 
have  them  taught  their  trades  and  do  all  their  work  in  the  house, 
and  thus,  from  one  improvement  to  another,  the  asylum  became  also 
an  industrial  school  and  workshop.  The  sole  aim  of  the  illiterate 
but  enlightened  founder,  like  that  of  all  who  perpetuated  his  charity, 
was  to  make  of  every  boy  there  a thorough  Christian  and  a thorough 
mechanic. 

Such  was  the  first  little  flock  intrusted  to  him  who,  unconscious 
of  any  ambition  but  that  of  doing  the  utmost  for  every  child  there, 
labored  with  a singleness  of  purpose  that  never  looked  beyond  the 
walls  of  the  institution,  and  never  failed  to  make  the  best  use  of  the 
present  opportunity.  The  asylum  and  its  schools  were  to  be  in  after 
years  the  recipients  of  many  lasting  benefits  from  the  young  priest 
who  won  golden  opinions  in  it.  But  of  this  in  its  proper  time. 

The  illustrious  Cardinal  Consalvi,  the  trusted  minister  of  Pius 
VIL,  at  the  beginning  of  1823  was  exceedingly  desirous  of  providing 
for  the  religious  wants  of  the  Spanish  republics  of  South  America. 
During  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  attitude  of  Spain 
and  Portugal  toward  the  Holy  See  had  been  one  of  almost  schismati- 
cal  hostility.  The  salutary  interference  of  the  supreme  ecclesiastical 


Soil  to  Chili  with  the  Delegate  Apostolic. 


37 


authority  had  been  either  thwarted  or  set  at  naught  by  the  home  gOY- 
emments,  even  when  its  action  was  the  most  needed ; and  the  colo- 
nial governments  copied  all  too  faithfully  the  conduct  of  their  supe- 
riors. The  whole  Christian  world  was  scandalized  by  the  cruel  pres- 
sure brought  to  bear  upon  Pope  Clement  XIV.  in  order  to  compel 
him  not  only  to  suppress  the  Society  of  J esus,  but  to  subscribe  to  the 
official  calumnies  against  it  drawn  up  by  the  joint  representatives  of 
the  houses  of  Bourbon  and  Braganza.  And  this  unnatural  treat- 
ment of  a heart-broken  old  man,  was  only  exceeded  by  the  uncalled 
for  and  abominable  cruelty  displayed  toward  the  members  of  the 
obnoxious  order  in  both  kingdoms  and  their  vast  transatlantic 
colonies. 

What  was  most  deplorable  was  that  no  successors  were  ever  given 
to  these  30,000  accomplished  and  devoted  religious,  the  best  edu- 
cators of  youth,  and  the  most  successful  missionaries  of  modern 
times.  The  Indian  tribes  whom  they  had  civilized  by  miracles  of  a 
self-sacrificing  zeal,  were  permitted  to  relapse  into  a worse  barbarism 
than  that  of  their  ancestors,  because  one  of  its  elements  was  a bitter 
hatred  of  the  Christian  governments  that  robbed  them  of  their  bene- 
factors. And  in  the  schools  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula  anti-Catholic 
teachers  were  intruded,  or  most  of  these  institutions  were  suppressed, 
while  beyond  the  seas,  to  this  day,  no  teachers,  or  bad  teachers,  have 
taken  the  place  of  these  trusted  guides  in  their  once  numerous  and 
most  flourishing  schools. 

The  Holy  See,  in  canceling  a papal  act  invested  with  none  of  the 
wonted  canonical  solemnities,  and  unaccompanied  by  that  liberty  of 
action  without  which  even  grave  disciplinary  measures  are  shorn  of 
their  worth,  plainly  told  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  in  both  hemi- 
spheres, that  the  era  of  reparation  and  renovation  had  come. 

Chili,  favored  above  her  sister  republics  in  the  fact  that  she  had 
been  governed  in  succession  by  two  noble  men,  the  Marquises 
O’Higgins,  father  and  son,  had  been  comparatively  free  from  the 
horrors  of  civil  war,  and  had  preserved  more  of  the  elements  of 
sound  political  and  religious  progress.  She  was  the  first  to  ask  the 
Holy  See  to  send  a special  representative  to  concert  with  the  gov- 
ernment the  needful  measures  for  harmonious  action. 

Consalvi  cast  his  eyes  on  Monsignor  Muzi,  afterward  Bishop  of 
Citta  di  Castello,  as  the  fittest  person  to  deal  with  the  difficulties 
likely  to  occur  in  the  new  American  republic,  and  gave  him  as  audi- 
tor or  counselor  the  Abbate  Mastai,  whose  courtly  manners  and 


38  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 

winning  address  were  likely  to  make  a favorable  impression  on 
Spanish  gentlemen. 

The  great  secretary  and  the  holy  father  had,  doubtless,  ulterior 
views  on  tlie  young  priest  in  making  or  approving  this  selection ; 
but  to  the  latter’s  mind  no  other  prospect  opened  than  that  of  a 
glorious  missionary  field  beyond  the  seas,  immense  good  to  be  done 
to  souls,  and  great  dangers  and  labors  to  be  encountered  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Master.  Ilis  joy  was  therefore  great. 

At  these  tidings  the  over-anxious  mother  at  Sinigaglia  was  filled 
with  fear  of  the  long  and  perilous  voyage,  of  the  vicissitudes  of  a 
country  still  torn  by  civil  strife  and  revolution ; and,  above  all  she 
dreaded  the  return  of  the  fell  distemper  amid  the  excitements  attend- 
ant on  such  a journey  and  to  such  a land.  She  wrote  to  Pius  VII.  be- 
seeching him  to  cancel  the  choice  made  of  her  son ; and  the  venera- 
ble man,  though  extremely  feeble  and  near  his  end,  at  once  answered 
in  a strain  that  consoled  and  reassured  her.  When  the  Abbate  Mas- 
tai  presented  himself,  in  June,  to  take  leave  of  his  holiness  and  ask 
his  blessing  on  the  journey  he  was  undertaking  with  such  alacrity, 
the  aged  Pope  received  him  with  more  than  fatherly  kindness. 

‘‘Your  lady  mother,”  he  said,  “has  written  to  the  secretary  to 
have  him  prevent  you  from  undertaking  this  journey ; but  we  have 
sent  her  a letter  to  say  that  you  will  surely  return  safe  from  this 
mission.” 

And  with  loving  words  of  encouragement  the  old  man  blessed  the 
kneeling  priest,  who  felt  as  he  gazed  with  fond  veneration  on  the 
meek  and  suffering  features,  that  he  should  never  more  look  on  his 
benefactor,  nor  hear  the  sound  of  that  voice  that  had  been  to  him 
the  voice  of  God’s  angel  in  his  hours  of  doubt  and  deepest  despond- 
ency. Monsignor  Muzi  and  his  counselor  were  still  in  Italy,  when, 
on  August  the  20th,  Pius  VII.  closed  his  long  career  of  suffer- 
ing amid  the  tears  of  his  illustrious  servants  and  fellow-sufferers, 
his  lips  faintly  murmuring  the  last  words,  “ Savona  . . . Fon- 

tainebleau.” Was  his  gentle  and  forgiving  spirit  pleading  for  his 
oppressor  ? He  had  been  so  eager  to  send  to  St.  Helena  a true  priest 
to  cheer  and  reconcile  on  his  death-bed  the  once  mighty  conqueror, 
whose  headlong  anger  knew  not  pity  for  the  fallen  or  delay  for  those 
he  doomed  to  die  ! 

We  must  not  tarry  to  picture  the  enthusiasm  with  which  Mastai 
found  himself,  on  landing  at  Montevideo,  on  the  land  rendered  dear 
to  Christian  hearts  by  the  labors  and  peaceful  conquests  of  the  early 


Labors  in  Chili  and  Peru. 


39 


Jesuit  missionaries.  Tlie  history  written  by  the  impartial  Muzza- 
relli  had  been  familiar  to  Mastai  while  almost  a child,  and  had 
helped  in  no  small  degree  to  kindle  the  ardent  desire  conceived  soon 
afterward  of  treading  in  the  footsteps  of  these  glorious  apostles  of 
civilization.  During  the  brief  stay  which  the  Delegate  Apostolic 
made  on  the  shore  of  the  Eio  de  la  Plata,  he  and  his  companion  had 
opportunities  enough  of  witnessing  the  sad  state  of  spiritual  neglect 
and  ignorance  of  the  Indian  population.  Nor  did  Mastai  allow  such 
opportunities  to  pass  by  unheeded.  Every  hour  that  he  could  spare 
was  given  to  the  extreme  needs  of  these  poor  people. 

This  road  from  Montevideo  to  Chili  and  Peru,  lay  across  the  wide 
pampas  and  the  bleak  and  dangerous  passes  of  the  Andes.  The 
perils  of  their  sea  voyage,  great  as  they  had  been,  were  trifling  in 
comparison  with  the  dangers  that  lay  before  them,  at  that  period 
particularly.  They  had  been  imprisoned  at  Majorca  by  the  jealous 
Spanish  authorities  because  they  dared  to  go,  even  on  an  errand  of 
religious  peace  and  mercy,  to  a country  in  rebellion  against  the  crown 
of  Spain  ; they  Avere  attacked  by  the  Barbaresque  corsairs  on  leaving 
Majorca ; and  were  again  and  again  assailed  on  the  Atlantic  by  the 
most  violent  storms.  But  on  the  pampas,  beside  the  incessant  appre- 
hensions of  being  attacked  by  the  hostile  Indians,  they  had  to  endure 
the  extremes  of  hunger  and  cold  amid  the  varied  climates  of  the 
inhospitable  region, — having  at  one  time,  in  the  midst  of  a fearful 
storm  to  spend  the  night  in  a hut  constructed  of  bones  and  still 
redolent  of  putrefaction. 

The  glimpses  obtained  of  the  Indian  populations  as  the  travelers 
wound  their  way  toward  the  eastern  spurs  of  the  Andes,  or  halted 
among  the  sparse  villages  in  the  central  valleys,  filled  them  with  pity 
and  regret ; pity  for  a race  that  had  once  tasted  the  sweet  fruits  of 
apostolic  zeal,  and  regret  at  the  ruin  caused  by  the  infernal  policy  of 
a Pombal  and  a Elorida-Blanca. 

Great  was  the  joy  shown  at  Santiago  on  the  arrival  of  the  messen- 
gers sent  by  the  common  father  of  Christians ; deep  and  sincere 
the  respect  so  universally  shown  to  men  who  had  faced  and  under- 
gone such  dangers  and  privations  to  heal  the  religious  wounds  of  the 
South  American  republics.  But  divided  councils,  in  a country  still 
bleeding  from  civil  war  and  torn  by  internal  dissensions,  prevented 
the  Delegate  Apostolic  from  accomplishing  the  purpose  so  dear  to  the 
fatherly  heart  of  the  dying  Pius.  The  mission  of  Monsignor  Muzi 
comprised  the  whole  of  Spanish  America.  He  was,  however,  only 


40 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


permitted  to  visit  Chili  and  Pern,  before  returning  with  hea^y  heart 
from  countries  he  yearaed  to  benefit  to  the  utmost  in  his  power. 

During  their  stay,  the  counselor  found  leisure  from  the  duties  of  his 
office  to  make  frequent  excursions  into  the  interior  provinces  of  both 
republics,  thereby  possessing  himself  of  accurate  knowledge  about  the 
religious  wants  of  Spaniards  and  Indians  alike.  Indeed,  it  would  have 
been  unspeakable  happiness  for  him  to  spend  his  whole  life,  imitating 
the  glorious  examples  set  on  these  shores  by  St.  Turibio  of  Lima, 
and  St.  Francis  Solano,  journeying  on.  foot  from  city  to  city  and 
village  to  village,  seeking  amid  the  wilderness  the  tribes  once  con- 
verted by  the  J esuits,  and  now  bereft  of  all  missionary  aid,  and  dis- 
playing toward  them  in  his  own  person  all  the  supernatural  self- 
sacrifice  of  a Peter  Claver. 

It  can  be  readily  believed  that  the  only  vision  of  future  greatness 
that  ever  floated  before  the  eyes  of  the  devoted  young  priest,  was 
that  of  the  great  Apostle  of  Cartagena  (whom  he  was  afterward  to 
place  among  the  Blessed),  subscribing  himself  by  solemn  vow  the 
Slave  of  the  ISTegroes  forever.” 

But  few  anecdotes  have  reached  us  about  his  doings  in  South 
America.  Two  noteworthy  incidents  will  suffice,  however,  to  show 
in  what  direction  ran  the  current  of  that  unselfish  existence.  In 
one  of  the  wild  valleys  between  the  interlocking  spurs  of  the  Andes 
he  stumbled  on  a hovel,  in  which  a poor  man  lay  at  the  point  of 
death,  with  his  wife  and  children  weeping,  hopeless  and  helpless, 
around  him.  It  was  an  Indian  family.  They  had  received  neither 
instruction  nor  baptism  ; had  never  been  under  priestly  care,  and 
knew  the  Christian  religion  only  by  the  traditions  of  their  parents 
and  the  godless  lives  of  the  Spanish  mountaineers  and  traders.  The 
comely  features  of  the  young  priest,  who  all  of  a sudden  appeared 
by  the  death-bed,  lighted  up  as  they  were  by  unearthly  charity, 
seemed  to  the  dying  man  and  his  family  an  angelic  apparition.  The 
words  and  acts  of  the  stranger  proved  to  be  those  of  an  angel.  He 
spoke  of  heaven,  and  of  him  who  died  on  the  cross  to  open  its  gates 
to  all  men,  with  such  inspired  eloquence  and  in  the  near  presence  of 
death  that  the  poor  sufferer  believed  and  was  baptized.  He  was 
doing,  like  the  first  apostles,  Christ’s  work  among  the  heathen,  and 
Christ  was  with  him  giving  efficacy  to  his  every  word. 

When  the  regenerated  soul  had  taken  its  flight,  Mastai  opened  the 
wallet  containing  his  wardrobe,  took  out  his  best  linen,  clothed  the 
catechumen  in  it,  and  thus  laid  him  to  his  rest,  with  Christ’s  cross 


Labors  in  the  Industrial  Schools  of  Rome, 


41 


aboYe  his  grave  on  the  hill-side.  Then  he  instrueted  and  baptized 
the  widow  and  her  orphans,  shared  with  them  his  little  store  of 
money  and  clothing,  and  went  on  his  way  seeking  other  stray  sheep 
of  his  Master’s  fold. 

While  journeying  with  the  Delegate  Apostolic  from  the  western 
slope  of  the  Andes  to  Santiago,  they  had  to  spend  the  night  in  a 
wretched  inn  or  posada,  the  only  refuge  to  be  found  far  and  near. 
No  sooner  had  the  host  ascertained  the  quality  of  his  guests  than  he 
informed  them  that  an  Englishman — a heretic,”  as  he  termed 
it — was  lying  ill  in  the  house  of  a dangerous  fever.  It  was  a young 
officer  of  the  name  of  Miller,  who  thus  lay  unconscious,  far  away 
from  home  and  dear  friends,  with  not  one  kind  hand  to  smooth  his 
pillow.  There  was  a good  Samaritan  there,  however,  God-sent  too, 
in  the  poor  Englishman’s  dire  need. 

Mastai',  the  generous  Delegate  Apostolic  heartily  approving  the 
step,  remained  in  the  house,  while  his  companions  went  on  their 
way.  He  nursed  the  sick  stranger — now  his  sick  brother — with 
the  tenderness  and  constancy  of  a sister  or  a mother,  never  quitting 
his  side  till  he  was  in  full  convalescence.  It  was  of  no  account  to 
him  to  share  in  the  splendid  public  reception  given  by  the  city  of  San- 
tiago and  the  Government  to  the  representative  of  the  Apostolic  See. 

That  he  left  with  heartfelt  regret  a country  which  offered  him  so 
rich  a harvest  of  souls,  we  may  easily  believe.  On  his  return  to  Italy, 
in  1825,  he  found  Leo  XII.  in  the  chair  of  Pius  VII.  The  new 
Pope,  long  tried  himself  during  the  Napoleonic  persecution,  was  a 
man  to  appreciate  the  priestly  spirit  that  animated  Mastai.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  he  deemed  him  fitter  to  benefit  the  sadly  demoralized 
inhabitants  of  Italy  by  such  apostolic  virtues  as  those  that  shone  forth 
in  him,  than  to  run  a diplomatic  career  affording  little  consolation  to 
one  so  spiritual-minded.  So,  until  such  time  as  age  and  further 
labor  on  the  home-mission  had  matured  his  qualities,  he  was — so 
the  Pope  judged — to  be  given  ample  scope  for  his  zeal  and  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  administrative  abilities. 

In  pursuance  of  this  plan  the  Pope  made  him  one  of  his  own 
domestic  prelates,  and  gave  him  the'  general  direction  of  the  vast 
mixed  establishement  of  San  Michele.  This  was  at  first  a refuge  for 
vagrant  boys,  opened  in  1693  by  Cardinal  Odescalchi,  nephew  to 
Innocent  XI. ; it  became  in  time  an  industrial  school,  and  beside  it 
were  successively  erected  a hospital  for  both  sexes,  an  industrial 
school  for  girls,  and,  latest  of  all,  a reformatory  for  women. 


42 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Monsignor  Mastal,  as  he  was  thenceforth  called,  displayed  such 
extraordinary  intelligence,  administrative  talent,  and  zeal  for  the 
improvement  of  the  industrial  and  art  schools  in  particular,  that  he 
contributed  very  materially  to  make  San  Michele  the  pride  of  Eome 
and  the  real  conservatory  of  Eoman  art.  The  reverence  in  which 
his  memory  was  held  by  the  inmates  of  Tata  Giovanni  was  not 
diminished  by  the  fresh  luster  acquired  in  his  mission  to  America. 
In  his  new  charge  he  found  subjects  enough  on  which  to  exercise  his 
priestly  qualities.  Indeed  they  shone  with  a splendor  that  all  Eome 
admired,  and  that  the  very  best  of  her  ministers  strove  to  emulate. 

In  May,  1827,  Leo  XII.  thought  the  time  had  come  for  placing 
the  Director  of  San  Michele  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  most  important 
dioceses  in  the  Eoman  States,  with  a population  needing  the  care  of 
a chief  pastor  who  was  above  all  a man  of  God. 

And  so  Monsignor  Mastai  was  nominated  Archbishop  of  Spoleto. 


CHAPTER  y. 


fOK-SECRATED  ArCHBISHOP  OF  SpOLETO — STATE  OF  TJmBRIA  AKD 
Causes  of  Disaffectio:^’  toward  Po:s:tifical  Government 
— Administrative  Career  in  Spoleto — Appointed  to  Imola. 


1827-1832. 


H May  21,  1827,  Monsignor  Mastai  was  “ preconised ’’  or  offici- 


ally  announced  by  the  Pope,  in  consistory,  as  Archbishop  of 
Spoleto,  and  on  June  3d — the  feast  of  ^‘St.  Peter  in  Chains” — he 
received  episcopal  consecration  at  the  hands  of  Cardinal  Castiglione, 
afterward  Pope  Pius  VIII.  As  Leo  XII.  was  himself  a native  of 
Spoleto  (he  had  also  been  bishop  of  Sinigaglia),  there  was  a speeial 
significance  in  his  choosing  so  young  a prelate  to  minister  to  the 
wants  of  a diocese  so  very  dear  to  him.  There  must  be,  at  this  dis- 
tance of  time,  a something  more  striking  in  the  coincidence  between 
the  day  chosen  for  the  new  archbishop’s  consecration  and  the  eondi- 
tion  in  which  the  whole  Christian  world  beholds  him,  as  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  that  memorable  3d  of  June  returns  to  awaken  sueh 
universal  sympathy  and  devotion  toward  ^^the  prisoner  of  the  Vati- 


can. 


But  the  great  determining  motive  of  the  reigning  Pope  in  nominat- 
ing Monsignor  Mastai  to  a position  so  elevated  and  responsible,  was 
based  on  the  needs  of  the  Umbrian  population,  and  on  the  belief 
entertained  by  his  own  counselors  that  the  director  of  San  Michele 
was  the  man  of  all  most  fitted  to  restore  confidence,  peace,  piety,  and 
prosperity  where  the  French  rule  had  destroyed  them  utterly. 

A right  understanding  of  the  state  in  which  Central  Italy  had 
been  left  by  imperial  misrule,  and  of  the  efforts  made  by  Pius  VII. 
and  his  successors  to  remedy  disorders  which  they  bitterly  deplored, 
may  throw  not  a little  light  on  the  history  we  are  sketching,  and  on 
the  causes  of  the  manifold  evils  that  ignorance  and  prejudice  are 
wont  to  attribute  to  priestly  government,  a prejudice  which  the  very 
authors  of  the  mischief  and  the  sworn  enemies  of  the  papacy  are 
careful  to  foster  by  systematic  misrepresentation. 

Me  shall  ask  the  reader  first  to  visit  with  us  the  beautiful  and  von- 


43 


44 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


erable  city  of  Spoleto,  and  while  surveying  from  the  surrounding 
hill- tops  the  enchanting  prospect  of  Umbria  spread  out  beneath  our 
feet,  it  will  be  easy  to  appreciate  the  task  appointed  to  the  new  arch- 
bishop, and  the  heroic  qualities  that  he  brought  to  its  fulfillment. 

Spoleto  is  in  the  very  heart  of  Central  Italy,  covering  with  its 
quaint  medieval  edifices  the  side  of  a lofty  hill,  on  the  crest  of  which, 
far  above  the  city  proper,  frowns  ‘^La  Eocca,”  a four-turreted  for- 
tress built  by  Theodoric  the  Great  (455-526),  again  and  again  par- 
tially destroyed  by  its  temporary  masters,  thoroughly  repaired  by  Pope 
Nicholas  V.  (1398-1455),  heroically  defended  against  the  Piedmontese 
in  September,  1860,  by  Major  Myles  O’Eeilly  and  his  Irish  Brigade, 
and  now  a prison  for  criminals.  Behind  this  hill,  with  its  amphi- 
theater of  churches,  convents,  and  dwelling-houses,  and  connected 
with  it  by  an  ancient  and  lofty  aqueduct,  rises  far  into  the  cloudless 
sky  Monte  Luco,  whose  sides  are  ^Gike  a most  luxuriant  garden 
covered  with  box,  sage,  arbutus,  ilex,  and  juniper.  Delightful  paths 
wind  upward  through  the  woods,  and  present  new  views,  each  more 
beautiful  than  the  last.  Scattered  among  the  odoriferous  thickets 
are  a succession  of  chapels,  and  buildings  which  once  were  hermit- 
ages ; for  a perfect  Thebaid  was  established  here  in  528  by  St.  Isaac 
of  Syria,  and  the  Catholic  church  honors  many  saints  who  have 
spent  a portion  of  their  lives  there.  At  the  top  of  the  mountain,  in 
a wood  of  chestnuts,  is  the  pilgrimage  church  of  Madonna  delle 
Grazie  (“Our  Lady  of  Graces”).  The  principal  convent  is  that  of 
St.  Giuliano.  No  more  beautiful  or  heaven-inspiring  retreat  could 
be  found  than  the  cells  in  this  flowery  mountain-forest  ” (Hare). 

Michael- Angelo,  after  visiting  it  in  September,  1556,  wrote  that  he 
scarcely  brought  the  half  of  himself  back  to  Eome,  “because  one  only 
finds  true  liberty,  peace,  and  happiness  amid  such  scenes.”  Alas  I 
of  all  these  retreats  that  once  constituted  the  paradise  of  the  soul 
and  the  nursery  of  holy  and  heroic  men,  there  is  not  one  but  has 
been  desecrated  by  the  present  rulers  of  Italy,  in  the  name  of  liberty, 
peace,  and  progress  ! But  we  must  not  anticipate. 

It  was  precisely  because  the  bishops  of  this  ancient  see  (founded 
in  the  year  50)  had  industriously  rebuilt  the  city  from  its  ruins  after 
each  fresh  destruction  wrought  by  Goths,  Huns,  Lombards,  and 
Greeks  ; because  they  had  succeeded  in  making  these  mountain  soli- 
tudes the  home  of  peace,  security,  and  holiness,  that  such  men  as 
Theodoric  built  the  lofty  citadel  as  a protection  and  a refuge,  while, 
later,  Theodelapius  connected  the  city  and  its  fortress  with  the  saint- 


State  of  Umbria,  45 

peopled  Monte  Luco,  by  that  magnificent  aqueduct  spanning  tbe 
intervening  valley. 

There  is  not  a church  or  chapel  in  the  grand  old  city,  nor  a con- 
vent or  public  edifice  of  any  importance  for  miles  around  that  had 
not  been  decorated  with  loving  hand  by  some  of  Italy’s  most  famous 
artists.  Lo  Spagna,  Perugino’s  favorite  pupil  and  Raphaers  fellow- 
student,  could  not  tear  himself  away  from  Spoleto,  working  in  every 
sweet  sanctuary  where  he  was  permitted  to  paint,  on  wall  or  canvass, 
the  visions  of  heavenly  beauty  and  heroic  virtue  that  filled  his  soul. 
But  convents  and  sanctuaries  are  now  profaned  or  allowed  to  fall  into 
ruin ; and  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  painters  of  Italy  may 
seek  in  vain  for  inspiration  and  never  find 

“the  gleam, 

The  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land, 

The  consecration,  and  the  poet’s  dream.” 

It  would  be  impossible  to  describe  in  these  pages,  even  did  our 
subject  and  space  permit  it,  the  varied  beauties  and  untold  wealth  of 
the  magnificent  country  on  which  one  may  look  down  from  the 
towers  of  La  Rocca  or  the  now  desolate  and  desecrated  sanctuaries  of 
Monte  Luco.  Directly  west  of  it,  across  the  valley  of  the  Tiber,  lies 
Orvieto,  perched  on  a huge  volcanic  mass,  its  precipitous  sides  falling 
sheer  down  to  the  plain,  and  presenting,  amid  the  splendors  of  the 
evening  or  the  morning  sun,  its  glorious  cathedral  shining  afar  like 
an  angelic  watch-tower  at  the  entrance  of  Paradise. 

And  surely  one  might  well  take  the  land  for  another  Eden,  over 
whose  bosom  the  industry  and  science  of  man  had  in  more  than  one 
way  added  charms  to  God’s  choicest  handiwork.  Let  us  listen  to  one 
whose  religion  will  not  incline  him  to  overpraise  the  results  of  Cath- 
olic civilization,  of  pontifical  rule  especially. 

^‘On  turning  the  crest  of  the  hills  which  shelter  Bolsena,  one 
looks  down  into  a wide  valley  filled  with  the  richest  vegetation — 
peach-trees  and  almonds  and  figs,  with  vines  leaping  from  tree  to 
tree  and  chaining  them  together,  and  beneath,  an  unequaled  luxu- 
rianee  of  corn  and  peas  and  melons,  every  tiniest  space  occupied. 
Mountains  of  the  most  graceful  forms  girdle  in  this  paradise,  and, 
from  the  height  whence  we  first  gaze  upon  it,  endless  distances  are 
seen,  blue  and  roseate  and  snowy,  melting  into  infinity  of  space ; 
while  from  the  valley  itself  rises,  island-like,  a mass  of  orange-colored 
rock,  crowned  with  old  walls  and  houses  and  churches,  from  the 


46 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


center  of  which  is  uplifted  a vast  cathedral,  with  delicate,  spray-like 
pinnacles,  and  a golden  and  jeweled  front,  and  this  is  Orv'ieto” 
(Hare). 

It  is  the  same,  whether  we  look  to  the  north  or  to  the  south ; 
ever3^where  the  creations  of  that  civilizing  power  that  formed  Christ- 
endom from  out  the  chaos  of  ruin  left  by  the  barbaric  invasions ; in 
every  corner  of  the  land  man  encouraged  to  settle,  protected  and 
blessed  in  his  thrift,  taught  to  be  content  with  what  the  earth  was 
forced  to  yield  to  his  husbandry,  and  to  look  beyond  the  bright  skies 
above  him  for  a rest  from  his  labors  and  a reward  for  his  virtues. 

What  religion  achieved  in  Spoleto,  that,  from  the  downfall  of  the 
Eoman  power,  and  even  while  oppressed  by  the  protectorate  of  Con- 
stantinople, she  strove  to  do  in  every  corner  of  Italy  : to  build  up 
the  cities  as  a sure  refuge  for  the  inhabitants  spared  by  the  sword,  to 
encourage  the  husbandman  as  he  planted  or  garnered  his  crops,  and 
the  shepherd  as  he  led  his  flocks  along  the  fevered  plain  or  the 
healthier  hill-side  ; and,  above  all,  to  teach  man  not  to  set  his  heart 
upon  this  earth  ; but  to  share  its  fruits  with  the  needy  and  to  make 
its  abode  a picture  of  the  eternal  city  of  the  skies,  by  brotherly  love, 
by  patience  of  ill,  and  forbearing  from  strife  and  revenge  and 
malice.  * 

In  spite  of  the  evil  passions  which,  age  after  age  and  uninterrupt- 
edly, marred  all  the  purest  intentions  and  noblest  labors  of  the 
Church,  if,  at  this  day,  one  should  ask  what  she  has  done  with  the 
Italian  people,  and  wherein  do  they  show  her  culture,  we  might 
turn  to  a writer,  who,  being  bitterly  opposed  to  her  teaching,  but 
born  on  her  soil  and  conversant  with  every  class  of  her  people,  as  no 
other  man  of  Anglo-Saxon  blood  can  boast  of  being,  may  be  accepted 
as  an  unprejudiced  witness. 

They  are,  according  to  him,  an  honest  and  a truthful  people.  Do 
not,”  he  says,  “go  forth  in  a spirit  of  antagonism  to  the  inhabitants, 
and  with  the  impression  that  life  in  Italy  is  to  be  a prolonged  strug- 
gle against  extortion  and  incivility.  Except  in  the  old  kingdom 
of  Naples — there  is  no  country  where  it  is  so  little  necessary  to  look 
forward  to  such  things  as  possible.  A traveler  will  be  cheated 
oftener  in  a week’s  tour  in  England  than  in  a year’s  residence  in 
Italy.  During  six  whole  winters  spent  at  Dome,  and  years  of  travel 
in  all  the  other  parts  of  Italy,  the  author  (Mr.  Hare)  cannot  recall  a 
single  act  or  word  of  an  Italian — not  Neapolitan — of  which  he  can 
justly  complain ; but,  on  the  contrary,  has  an  overflowing  recollec- 


What  Religion  has  Done  with  the  People, 


47 


tion  of  tlie  disinterested  courtesy,  and  tlie  unselfisli  and  often  most 
undeserved  kindness  with  which  he  has  universally  been  treated.” 
— Cities  of  Central  Italy,  i.  p.  14. 

They  are  a most  courteous  people,  as  the  same  writer  goes  on  to 
prove.  But  they,  one  and  all,  demand  to  be  treated  with  cour- 
tesy. 

‘^Nothing  can  be  obtained  from  an  Italian  by  compulsion.  A 
friendly  look  and  a cheery  word  will  win  almost  anything,  but  Italians 
will  not  be  driven.  . . . Travelers  ....  are  beginning, 

though  only  beginning,  to  learn  that  the  difference  of  caste  in 
Italy  does  not  give  an  opening  for  the  discourtesies  in  which  they  are 
wont  to  indulge  ,to  those  they  consider  their  inferiors  in  the  north, 
and  they  are  beginning  to  see  that  Italian  dukes  and  marquises  are 
quite  as  courteous  and  thoughtful  for  their  vigneroli  (vine-dressers) 
or  their  pecorai  (shepherds)  as  for  their  equals  ; and  that  the  Italian 
character  is  so  constituted  that  a certain  amount  of  friendly  famil- 
iarity on  the  part  of  the  superior  never  leads  to  disrespect  in  the  in- 
ferior. ” — IMdem, 

They  are  true  men,  brave  and  moral,  priests  and  people  alike. 

With  every  year  which  an  Englishman  passes  in  Italy,  a new  vail  of 
the  suspicion  with  which  he  entered  it  will  be  swept  away,  only  it  is  a 
pity  that  his  enjoyment  should  be  marred  at  the  beginning.  For- 
eigners will  find  that  ....  Italian  men  are  generally  as  cour- 
teous, brave,  and  high-minded  as  they  are  almost  universally  hand- 
some ; that  the  women  are  as  kind  and  modest  as  they  are  utterly 
without  affectation ; and  that,  though  the  bugbears  of  Protestant 
story-books  have  certainly  existed,  the  parish  priests,  and  even  the 
monks  as  a general  rule,  are  most  devoted  single-minded  Christians, 
living  amongst  and  for  the  people  under  their  care.  Cases  of  ec- 
clesiastical immorality  are  exceedingly  rare,  quite  as  rare,  if  we  may 
judge  by  our  newspapers,  as  in  Protestant  countries  ; and,  if  inquired 
into,  it  will  be  found  that  most  of  the  sensational  stories  told  are 
taken  out  of — Boccaccio  (1313-1375).  Of  course,  much  must  natur- 
ally remainr  which  one  of  a different  faith  may  deeply  regret ; but 
Englishmen  are  apt,  and  chiefly  on  religious  subjects,  to  accept  old 
prejudices  as  facts,  and  to  judge  without  knowledge.” — Ihid. 

Where  the  population  of  any  country  are  honest,  truthful,  court- 
eous, self-respecting,  brave,  modest,  and  moral  (industrious  they  are 
allowed  to  be,  as  well  as  ingenious  and  quick-witted),  and  where  their 
religious  teachers  and  guides  ^‘are  most  devoted,  single-minded 


48 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Christians,  living  amongst  and  for  the  people,’’  assuredly  religion 
has  not  to  blush  either  for  jiriests  or  for  people  ! 

IIow  happened  it,  then,  that  in  the  year  of  grace  1827  there  existed 
in  Umbria  (let  us  say  nothing  of  the  other  pontifical  provinces)  such 
disaffection  toward  the  papal  rule  and  such  serious  moral  disorder, 
that  the  reigning  Pope  cast  his  eyes  on  a prelate  of  known  self-sacri- 
ficing disposition,  large-minded  and  large-hearted,  gifted  with  a per- 
suasive eloquence,  and  tried  by  labors  among  the  poor  in  both  hemi- 
spheres, as  the  man  best  fitted  to  turn  back  the  rising  tide  of  dis- 
affection and  rebellion  ? 

One  principal  cause  of  this  intellectual  and  moral  disorder  has 
already  been  assigned  in  speaking  of  the  propagandism  set  on  foot  by 
the  French  radicals  and  sedulously  encouraged  by  the  military  rulers 
of  Italy  under  Napoleon.  The  cry  of  “ Italian  unity,”  left  behind 
as  a watchword  by  the  retreating  French  imperialists,  and  the  well- 
organized  system  of  secret  societies  which  inoculated  the'  Italian 
lourgeoisie  or  middle  class  with  the  idea  this  cry  conveyed,  is  another 
principal  cause. 

It  is  not  true,  even  at  this  hour,  that  the  Italian  aristocracy  or 
peasantry  (contadini)  have  ever  been  or  are  yet,  as  a class,  in  favor 
of  Italian  unity  ; most  certainly  they  never  have  been  hostile  to  the 
fatherly  government  of  the  Popes. 

We  can,  here  at  least,  anticipate  by  half  a century,  and  give  from 
the  traveler  already  quoted  one  last  impartial  judgment  on  this  all- 
important  matter : 

Those  who  have  traveled  in  Italy  many  years  ago  will  observe 
how  greatly  the  character  of  the  country  has  changed  since  its  small 
courts  have  been  swept  away.  With  the  differences  of  costume  and 
of  feeling,  the  old  proverbs  and  stories  and  customs  are  gradually 
dying  out.  * Travelers  will  view  these  changes  with  different  eyes. 
That  Venice  and  Milan  should  have  thrown  off  the  hated  yoke  of 
Austria  and  united  themselves  to  the  country  to  which  they  always 
wished  to  belong,  no  one  can  fail  to  rejoice,  and  the  cursory  observer 
may  be  induced  by  the  English  press,  or  by  the  statements  of  the  na- 
tive mezzo  ceto  (middle  class),  who  are  almost  entirely  in  its  favor,  to 
believe  that  the  wish  for  a united  Italy  was  universal.  Those  who 
stay  longer,  and  who  make  a real  acquaintance  with  the  people,  will 
find  that  in  most  of  the  Central  States  the  feeling  of  the  aristocracy 
and  of  the  contadini  is  almost  universally  against  the  present  state  of 
things.” — Ibidem,  19. 


Catises  of  Disaffection  and  Disorder, 


49 


It  was  among  this  same  mischievous  middle  class  (mezzo  ceto)  that 
the  Archbishop  of  Spoleto  was  called  to  put  forth  all  his  zeal ; for 
among  this  class  were  fermenting  all  the  political,  socialistic,  and 
anti-Christian  ideas  which  were  to  revolutionize  Italy  by  slow  but 
sure  stages. 

One  of  the  successful  artifices  of  the  hafiled  French  infidels,  when 
compelled  to  withdraw  from  Italy,  was  to  represent  the  restored 
papal  government  as  a creature  of  Austria.  In  truth,  Pius  VII.  was 
much  more  indebted  for  the  recovery  of  his  States  to  England  than 
to  Austria  ; but  in  France  it  suited  the  national  temper  to  represent 
the  overthrow  of  the  empire  and  all  its  consequent  humiliations  as 
the  effect  of  Austrian  revenge.  In  Italy,  too,  the  secular  hatred  of 
Austrian  occupation  would  he  sure  to  derive  increased  intensity  from 
the  protectorate  now  kept  up  by  Austria  over  the  Eoman  States,  and 
the  right  bestowed  on  that  power  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna  to  gar- 
rison Ferrara  and  other  cities  of  the  papal  territory  at  the  first  seri- 
ous symptoms  of  revolt. 

Leo  XIL,  from  the  beginning  of  his  pontificate,  had  been  desig- 
nated as  ‘^the  Austrian  patriarch,”  and  rumors  were  most  industri- 
ously circulated  affirming  that  he  had  been  elected  through  Austrian 
infiuence.  The  truth  was  that  in  the  conclave  one  of  his  concur- 
rents, Cardinal  Severoli,  had  been  excluded”  by  the  Austrian  veto, 
while  Cardinal  Castiglione  (afterward  Pius  VIII.)  was  the  candi- 
date favored  by  Austria.  It  was  partly  in  opposition  to  this  odious 
infiuence,  and  chiefly  because  Cardinal  della  Genga  was  a favorite 
with  all  parties — perhaps  also  because  being  stricken  with  an  incura- 
ble disease  the  court  of  Vienna  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  ex- 
clude him — that  he  was  elected,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people,  who 
venerated  him  as  a saint. 

But  there  was  another  and  more  influential  source  of  the  persist- 
ent and  systematic  accusations  of  undue  leaning  toward  Austria 
which  thwarted  to  so  great  an  extent  all  the  patriotic  efforts  of  Leo 
XII.  and  his  two  immediate  successors.  This  was  the  little  known 
but  powerful  interest  created  in  the  Papal  States  principally  in  favor 
of  Prince  Eugene  Beauharnais  by  the  Congress  of  Vienna. 

The  representatives  of  the  great  powers  had  bestowed  on  the  for- 
mer viceroy  of  Italy,  beside  immense  landed  estates  in  Lombardy, 
still  more  considerable  possessions  in  the  States  of  the  Church  made 
up  of  the  confiscated  property  of  the  religious  bodies,  with  a num- 
ber of  magnificent  monastic  edifices,  the  pride  of  former  ages.  It 
4 


5o 


Life  of  Pope  Plies  IX, 


was  in  reality  like  a permanent  colony  of  Frencli  officials,  with  a 
powerful  administration  and  a vast  patronage,  kept  up  in  the  heart 
of  the  country  they  had  once  governed.  ‘‘In  every  large  town,’’ 
says  Artaud,  “some  spacious  building  contained  tho  offices  of  the 
appanagio  (endowment)  as  it  was  called,  with  a staff  of  collectors, 
clerks,  overseers,  land-surveyors,  and  higher  officials ; and  in  almost 
every  village  w^as  a branch  of  this  little  empire.  . . . Many  of  the 

persons  so  employed  Tvere,  moreover,  foreigners,  whose  religion  [or 
rather  hatred  of  all  religion,*]  was  in  avow^ed  opposition  to  that  of 
the  native  population,  and  whose  morals  were  neither  edifying  nor 
improving.” 

Leo  XII.  had  set  his  heart  on  redeeming  this  property,  and  econo- 
mized most  rigidly  in  order  to  effect  this  purpose.  He  knew  that 
this  vast  foreign  administration  in  the  midst  of  his -States  was  a hot- 
bed of  conspiracy  as  well  as  a perpetual  drain  on  the  sources  of  his 
people.  And  the  more  he  economized  and  exerted  himself  to  get 
rid  of  the  nuisance,  the  more  he  found  that  they  conspired  and  agi- 
tated, accusing  “the  Austrian  patriarch”  enthroned  in  the  Quirinal 
of  sacrificing  Italy  and  his  people  to  the  hated  “foreigners.” 

Scarcely  had  Archbishop  Mastai  taken  possession  of  his  see  of  Spo- 
leto  than  ominous  signs  of  a near  revolutionary  outbreak  manifested 
themselves ; odious  assassinations  occurred  in  several  places,  and 
simultaneously  with  them  there  were  noisy  and  violent  demonstra- 
tions gotten  up  by  the  clubs. 

The  Archbishop  of  Spoleto  knew  that  one  mighty  weapon  of  paci- 
fication was  tho  confidence  of  all  classes  of  his  people ; and  he  set 
about  winning  it  by  the  open  acts  of  unbounded  devotion  to  their 
every  need. 

The  experience  acquired  in  Home  enabled  him  to  provide  for  the 
poor  and  homeless  of  his  flock,  and  to  create  institutions  similar  to 
Tata  Giovanni  and  others,  wdth  the  working  of  which  he  was  well 
acquainted.  It  was  not,  however,  from  his  own  resources  that  he 
drew  the  necessary  means.  The  income  of  his  bishopric  was,  at  best, 
but  inconsiderable,  and  when  he  came  to  Spoleto  he  was  worse  than 
poor.  So  much  so,  indeed,  that,  when  he  was  apprised  of  his  pro- 
motion, he  had  neither  the  money  required  to  meet  the  outlay  neces- 
sary for  the  solemnities  attendant  on  his  consecration,  nor  what  was 
necessary  to  purchase  the  indispensable  outfit  of  a bishop,  nor  even 
the  trifling  sum  usually  given  on  such  occasions  for  clerical  services 


* Author. 


Administrative  Career  in  Spoleto, 


5i 


in  tlie  Roman  chancery.  He  had  absolutely  left  himself  nothing 
but  his  few  books  and  scanty  raiment. 

It  was  this  very  poyerty,  noised  abroad  in  Rome  without  his 
knowledge,  and  of  which  the  touching  story  had  gone  before  him  to 
Spoleto,  that  moved  the  hearts  of  his  flock,  and  impelled  them  to 
assist  him  to  the  utmost  of  their  means  in  every  one  of  the  schemes 
set  on  foot  for  charity  or  education. 

While  thus  laboring  to  beneflt  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  homeless, 
and  the  orphan,  as  well  as  to  found  industrial  schools  and  colleges, 
he  found  means  of  bringing  in  turn  a rich  blessing  to  the  homes  of 
all  who  had  so  generously  aided  him  in  his  manifold  undertakings. 
Siooleto  and  its  neighborhood  were  sadly  disturbed  by  factions  and 
partisan  passions,  partly  inherited  from  former  times,  but  chiefly  the 
offspring  of  the  political  and  social  changes  of  the  last  forty  years. 
As  the  archbishop  was  a welcome  guest  whithersoever  he  went,  he 
profited  by  the  warm  welcome  extended  invariably  to  him  to  heal 
existing  strifes.  Almsgiving,  when  performed  with  that  Christian 
spirit  that  bespeaks  a heart  touched  with  the  love  of  the  Crucified, 
has  its  reward,  not  unfrequently,  in  that  interior  grace  which  enables 
the  soul  to  forgive  past  injuries,  to  lay  aside  political  and  partisan 
bitterness,  and  to  love  truly  where  one  had  long  hated  heartily.  Ho 
man  can  achieve  such  reconciliations  amongst  a warm-blooded  race, 
like  a man  whose  whole  life  bears  the  stamp  of  self-sacrifice  and 
absolute  devotion  to  the  good  of  others. 

And  so,  with  the  advent  of  Archbishop  Hasta'i  in  Spoleto,  all  the 
sweet  and  holy  charities  of  neighborly  intercourse  began  to  flourish 
anew,  and  bring  forth  a rich  crop  of  peace  and  happiness  and  pros- 
perity as  well.  For  their  chief  pastor  was  not  only  the  man  of  God 
who  sought  in  all  things,  and  above  all  things,  the  interest  of  their 
souls,  but  he  was  also  the  man  of  the  world  who  was  foremost  and 
earnest  in  seeking  and  promoting  their  temporal  welfare.  The  cul- 
ture of  the  silkworm,  the  establishment  and  improvement  of  the  ex- 
cellent woolen  and  felt  factories,  that  he  afterward  loved  to  patronize 
as  Pope,  he  now  stimulated  as  archbishop ; he  also  encouraged  or 
advised  the  development  given  to  the  very  important  iron-works,  and 
their  attendant  workshops,  for  agricultural  and  domestic  utensils.  In 
a word,  there  was  not  a family  throughout  his  flock  with  whose  aims, 
hopes,  cares,  and  griefs  the  prelate  did  not  identify  himself,  not  an 
industry  nor  an  undertaking  in  which  he  did  not  show  a sincere  and 
active  interest.  How  could  such  a man  not  be  beloved  ? 


52 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX, 


This  love  of  the  people  for  a man  of  God,  and  the  supernatural  vir- 
tues which  call  it  forth,  were  strikingly  displayed  on  one  memorable 
occasion.  Leo  XIL,  Avho,  during  his  pontificate,  had  more  than  once 
shown  the  court  of  Vienna  that  he  was  not  one  likely  to  be  swayed  by 
mere  worldly  policy,  had  ended  his  life  of  intolerable  suffering  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1829,  and  then  for  a brief  spaed  Cardinal  Castiglione  occupied 
the  chair  of  Peter.  He  was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  men  in 
Europe,  and  one  of  the  most  lowly-minded.  The  efforts  to  elect  him 
by  Austrian  influence  in  the  conclave  of  1823  had,  as  we  have  seen, 
been  baffled.  They  were  renewed  after  the  death  of  Leo  XII.,  and 
were  successful  this  time,  if,  indeed,  that  can  be  called  success  which 
is  the  choice  of  the  most  saintly,  the  most  learned,  the  most  worthy, 
by  men  who  are  unanimous  in  honoring  shining  merit. 

But  the  cry  of  foreign  influence,  raised  so  often  in  the  preceding 
reign,  was  now  renewed  with  a fiercer  and  more  frequent  vehemence. 
Leo  XII.  had  lived  down  the  slanders  with  which  he  was  assailed  at 
his  coronation.  The  thorough  and  wide-spread  reforms  carried  out 
or  inaugurated  in  Rome,  the  large  and  liberal  laws  enacted,  the 
burthens  of  taxation  so  considerably  lightened,  the  princely  gener- 
osity displayed  in  succoring  the  populations  distressed  by  the  inun- 
dations of  the  Anio,  and  in  pushing  forward  the  hydraulic  works 
destined  to  prevent  such  ravages  in  the  future,  all  inclined  his  grate- 
ful subjects  to  bestow  on  Leo  rather  the  appellation  of  “Father  of 
his  Country,”  than  the  nickname  of  “the  Austrian  Patriarch.” 

The  providential  influence  which  such  men  as  the  Archbishop  of 
Spoleto  had  acquired  over  the  disturbed  or  disaffected  provinces, 
added  to  the  deep  veneration  felt  for  the  virtues  of  Pius  VIIL,  kept 
the  Carbonari  (Appendix  C)  in  check  till  the  close  of  his  pontificate 
(Xov.  30,  1830).  But  then  the  conspiracy,  long  prepared  in  Xorthem 
and  Central  Italy,  burst  forth  in  open  insurrection  at  Modena,  Bo- 
logna (Feb.  4,  1831),  in  the  Marches,  and  at  the  very  gates  of  Rome. 

Thus  was  created  by  the  Italians  themselves  a neeessity  for  that 
“foreign  intervention”  against  which  the  Popes  had  nevpr  ceased  to 
battle  for  centuries.  The  detested  Austrian  flag  crossed  the  frontier 
of  the  Papal  States  and  occupied  Bologna,  Ferrara,  and  the  other 
notorious  eenters  of  revolution  ; and  then  the  imperial  forces,  advanc- 
ing southward  along  both  sides  of  the  Apennines,  drove  the  armed 
insurgents  in  confusion  before  them. 

A body  of  the  latter,  headed  by  one  Sercognari,  and  numbering 
4,000  men,  with  five  pieees  of  cannon,  had  been  driven  from  before 


Administrative  Career  in  Spoleto,  ' 53 

Civita  Castellana,  and  retrerting  sontliward  tlirongli  Umbria,  threw 
themselyes  into  Spoleto,  which  they  determined  to  hold.  The  cry 
of  '^The  Austrians,”  in  every  town  and  hamlet  of  Italy,  produced,  at 
the  time,  the  same  sensation  in  Italian  breasts  that  that  of  ‘^The 
Sassenach  ” would  at  any  time  in  the  mountains  of  Kerry  or  Tip- 
perary, the  irresistible  impulse  to  join  in  the  fray  against  ‘^the 
foreigner.”  Many  of  the  Spoletans  openly  joined  the  worsted  in- 
surgents, and  a general  rising  in  the  neighborhood  became  imminent. 

The  calamity  which  this  and  a subsequent  resistance  to  the  autho- 
rities must  have  entailed  on  his  flock  was  foreseen  by  the  archbishop, 
and  he  resolved  to  risk  his  life  or  save  his  people  from  the  horrors 
of  a siege.  • 

While  the  magistrates  were  already  preparing  to  leave  the  city,  he 
boldly  presented  himself  to  the  insurgent  chief,  laid  before  him  and 
his  officers  the  inevitable  consequences  of  such  a hopeless  struggle  as 
theirs,  with  the  victorious  Austrians  marching  down  on  them  from' 
the  north,  and  the  Neapolitan  troops  preparing  to  assail  them  from 
the  south.  He  had  food  brought  to  the  weary  and  famished’  men, 
caused  the  wounded  and  sick  to  be  tenderly  cared  for  in  the  public 
institutions,  promised  the  deluded  men  to  obtain  money  to  defray 
their  homeward  journey,  with  a free  passport  and  pardon-  for  their 
treason,  and  induced  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  at  his  feet. 
Gregory  XVI.  was  but  too  happy  to  grant  the  pardon  promised  by 
the  archbishop,  as  wxll  as  the  money  which  these  poor  men  needed 
sadly.  This,  however,  officers  and  men  would  only  accept  from  the 
prelate  himself,  not  trusting  to  the  honesty  of  their  Ibadeiv 

It  w^as  a day  of  sweet  joy  in  Spoleto  when  these  men  disbanded 
peacefully,  after  having  thanked  their  kind' benefactor  and  pledged 
themselves  to  respect  in  future  the  peace  of  It.aly  and  the  happiness 
of  their  own  firesides. 

Among  the  leaders  in  this  rising”  were  Louis  Napoleon  Bona^ 
parte,  future  emperor  of  the  French,,  and  his-  brother.  The  latter 
fell,  mortally  wounded,  at  Forli ; the  former  advanced  to  Spoleto  at 
the  head  of  some  straggling  cavalry,  was  bought  off,  at  the  arch- 
bishop’s suggestion,  with  a much  needed  sum  of  money,  and  left  the 
country.  Let  him  pass  out  of  this  history  for  the  present ; he  shall 
occupy  a large  space  in  it  at  a later  date.. 

The  disturbances  in  Spoleto  and  throughout  Umbria  did  not  cease- 
with  the  disbanding  of  these  four  thousand'  insurgents.  Clubs  had 
been  organized  in  every  city  in  Italy,  and  in  the  first  moment  of 


54 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


alarm  and  discouragement,  when  the  lawful  magistrates  forsook  their 
posts,  either  in  treason  or  in  terror,  the  clubs  assumed  the  govern- 
ment of  the  cities.  It  so  happened  at  Spoleto.  But  as  this  city  was 
near  Rome,  with  a strongly  fortified  castle,  a central  government 
was  established  there,  which  took  ou  itself  to  give  law  to  the  whole 
province. 

In  this  emergency  Archbishop  Masta’i  was  requested  to  take  on 
himself  the  administration  of  that  portion  of  the  Papal  States,  which 
he  did  with  much  reluctance,  but  to  the  great  benefit  of  the  popula- 
tion, having  soon  succeeded,  by  the  ascendency  of  his  virtue  and 
goodness,  in  restoring  order  and  tranquillity. 

It  was  only  for  a brief  space,  however,  as  tl:^  disturbances  broke 
out  with  renewed  fury  in  1832,  the  revolutionists  being  this  time  en- 
couraged by  the  open  sympathy  of  the  English  journalists  and  states- 
men, and  aided  still  more  efficiently  by  French  support.  The  gov- 
ernment of  France,  in  spite  of  the  most  energetic  protestations  of 
the  Holy  See,  did  not  hesitate  to  take  possession  of  Ancona,  and 
that  under  pretext  of  maintaining  the  papal  authority,  but  in  reality 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  once  more  a foothold  in  Italy.  Thus, 
while  an  Austrian  army  occupied  the  Romagna,  a French  force  held 
the  only  papal  seaport  on  the  Adriatic,  the  presence  of  the  former 
inflaming  the  national  hatred  to  frenzy,  and  that  of  the  latter  hold- 
ing out  to  revolution  secret  hopes  of  aid  and  comfort. 

The  visitation  of  this  double  plague  was  preceded,  in  January,  by 
a terrible  earthquake,  which  desolated  Central  Italy.  As  the  cities 
throughout  Umbria  are,  for  the  most  part,  built,  like  Spoleto,  in 
elevated  positions  susceptible  of  being  fortified,  the  people  fled  in 
terror  to  the  plain.  Much  disorder  and  distress  was  the  consequence 
of  this  panic.  But  these  accumulated  miseries  only  served  to  call 
forth  the  great  and  fatherly  qualities  of  the  archbishop.  He  organ- 
ized relief  committees,  who  sped  from  place  to  place  with  physicians, 
nurses,  food,  and  raiment  for  the  sufferers,  he,  the  while,  seeming  to 
make  himself  ubiquitous,  with  helping  hand  and  kind  word  for  all 
who  needed  comfort  or  assistance. 

But  wmrse  than  civil  war  and  earthquake  was  the  appearance  of 
the  Giovine  Italia  (‘‘Young  Italy”),  which  issued,  fully  armed  and 
equipped,  from  the  atheistical  brain  of  Mazzini  about  this  time.  It 
had  its  birth  in  Marseilles,  the  head-quarters  of  the  Italian  conspira- 
tors, and  was  a half-secret,  half-open  league  of  all  who  hated  the 
church  of  God,  with  a journal  published  in  that  city  bearing  the 


Appointed  to  Imola, 


55 


name  of  the  league,  and  an  army  of  emissaries  so  active  that  tho 
sailors  of  the  Italian  military  and  mercantile  navy  were  pledged  to  a 
man  to  circulate  Mazzini’s  publications  and  principles  from  one  end 
of  the  peninsula  to  the  other  ! 

With  the  entrance  of  such  a formidable  organization  into  political 
life,  abetted  as  it  was  by  England,  France,  and  Piedmont — though 
for  widely  different  motives — it  was  easy  for  any  man  gifted  with 
political  sagacity  to  foresee  and  prophesy  the  inevitable  and  not  far- 
distant  overthrow  of  the  papal  government,  and  the  utter  abolition 
of  all  church  establishments  in  the  Peninsula. 

We  do  not  know  if  the  Archbishop  of  Spoleto,  destined  to  be  the 
life-long  antagonist  of  this  occult  and  terrible  power,  had  any  pre- 
sentiment of  this  life-struggle  and  of  its  fateful  issues,  as  he  bent 
him  so  lovingly  and  zealous,  in  the  first  months  of  1832,  to  his  task 
of  binding  up  the  wounds  of  his  bleeding  country.  Certain  it  is  that 
Gregory  XVI.  and  his  counselors  were  conscious  that  no  man  better 
than  he  could  withstand,  in  that  part  of  the  papal  dominions  most 
threatened  by  the  combined  forces  of  irreligion  and  revolution,  the 
rising  tide  of  evil. 

In  the  following  December  he  was  transferred  to  the  see  of  Imola, 
and  was  fortunately  permitted  to  delay  his  departure  for  some 
months.  He  did  not  leave  Spoleto,  however,  without  a bitter  pang, 
and  without  great  opposition  on  the  part  of  his  flock.  It  was  all  in 
vain.  Though  deputation  after  deputation  went  to  Eome  appealing 
to  the  Pope  and  his  ministers,  Gregory  had  made  up  his  mind  that 
Imola  imperatively  needed  the  presence  of  such  a man  ; so  to  Imola 
Archbishop  Mastai  had  to  go. 

Still  his  good  deeds  live  in  the  memory  of  the  Spoletans  to  this 
day.  Though  no  statue  of  the  good  archbishop  graced  any  of  the 
ancient  city’s  public  squares,  and  though  strange  new  names  have 
usurped  the  place  of  old  and  revered  ones  in  street  and  thoroughfare 
and  public  building,  amid  the  rage  for  change  and  distinction  that 
animates  the  new  rulers  of  Umbria,  the  image  of  Mastai’s  fearless 
and  boundless  devotion  is  worshiped  in  every  household  in  his  for- 
mer diocese. 

To  the  pilgrim  from  Anglo-Saxon  lands,  when  it  is  found  that  he 
still  reverences  the  name  of  the  Pope,  the  guides  and  hotel-keepers 
around  Spoleto  will  tell  (on  the  sly,  and  with  bated  voice)  touching 
stories  of  the  devoted  archbishop’s  goodness  ; as,  for  instance,  how 
the  police,  one  fine  morning,  had  persisted  in  carrying  off  to  prison 


56 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


a poor  '^voman  who  was  seeking  to  pawn  a silver-gilt  branch-candle- 
stick, which,  she  persisted  in  assuring  them  with  genuine  tears  in 
her  eyes,  had  been  given  her  by  the  archbishop.  Her  captors,  of 
course,  would  have  it  that  she  had  stolen  it,  or  that  it  had  been 
given  her  by  the  plundering  insurgents.  And  so,  a gendarme  was 
dispatched  to  the  archiepiscopal  residence  with  the  identical  can- 
dlestick. Yes,  the  prelate  shamefacedly  confessed,  he  was  the  sole 
cause  of  the  poor  woman’s  trouble.  I had  no  money,  and  thought 
she  might  pawn  the  article  for  a handsome  penny  and  bring  me 
the  pawn-ticket,  which  I might  redeem  later.  Here  you  have  the 
only  guilty  one.” 

Such  anecdotes,  and  the  amusing  tales  about  the  archbishop’s 
chief  steward,  who  was  wont  to  lament  almost  daily  among  the  mar- 
ket folk  the  reckless  prodigality  and  improvidence  of  his  master, 
survive  among  the  contadini  at  least,  whose  hearts  have  been  proof 
against  the  general  change  and  ingratitude. 

Pass  we  now  to  Imola. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Cheistian  Gloeies  of  liiOLA — Chaeacteeistics  of  the  People 
— Political  Passioxs  : how  couxteeacted  by  the  New 
Aechbishop — Felice  Oesixi — Supeeioe  Educatiox  giyex 
TO  the  Cleegy — Ceeatiox  of  Ixstitutioxs  of  Bexefi- 

CEXCE  : THE  SiSTEEHOOD  OF  THE  GoOD  ShEPHEED — POLITI- 
CAL CoxspiEAciES — The  Aechbishop  xeaely  caeeied  off 
— Aechbishop  Mastai  elevated  to  the  Caedixalate — 
His  filial  Hevotiox  to  his  Mothee — Death  of  Geegoey 
XVI. — Love  of  Poveety  ix  the  dyixg  Pope. 

1832—1846. 

IMOLA  has  an  ancient  cathedral,  called  after  an  early  martyr 
St.  Cassianus — the  story  is  beautifully  told  by  Prudentius — 
whose  relics,  with  those  of  the  great  St.  Peter  Chrysologus,  a native 
of  the  city,  repose  within  the  sacred  place.  A strange  history  is  that 
of  this  venerated  martyr,  and  one  which  throws  on  the  eventful  life 
recounted  in  these  pages  a strange  prophetic  light. 

Cardinal  Wiseman,  in  his  charming  ‘‘  Fahiola,”  has  still  further 
embellished  the  narrative  of  Prudentius.  But  we  need  only  the  sim- 
ple historical  facts  for  our  purpose.  Cassianus  taught  a school  for 
hoys  at  Imola,  then  called  Forum  Cornelii.  Having  been  denounced 
to  the  local  magistrates  as  a Christian  and  an  enemy  of  their  coun- 
try's gods,  he  was  condemned  to  he  stabbed  to  death  by  his  own 
scholars.  These,  two  hundred  in  number,  surrounded  their  unre- 
sisting victim,  and  hacked  him  to  pieces  with  their  sharp  styles  of 
steel  and  their  penknives.  It  was  a long  and  fearful  torture.  The 
holy  poet-bishop  Prudentius  mentions  that  on  his  way  to  Rome 
he  stopped  to  pray  at  the  martyr’s  shrine  in  the  church  erected  as  a 
memorial  to  him.  Over  the  altar,  beneath  which  his  body  lay,  was 
a painting  vividly  representing  the  scene  of  his  agony. 

How  far  the  heroic  constancy  of  the  sufferer  may  have  contributed 
to  impress  his  young  tormentors  with  the  notion  that  the  odious 
Christian  faith  was  divine  and  indestructible,  we  cannot  now  say. 

5" 


58 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


The  blood  of  martyrs,  or,  rather  the  inyincible  constancy  and  other 
godlike  virtues  confirmed  and  made  fruitful  by  such  blood,  has  ever 
been  the  seed  of  Christianity.  The  native  country  of  St.  Cassian  did  ] 
not  fail  to  become  in  good  season  a Christian  land,  made  pleasant  by  ' 
the  sweet  odor  of  the  heavenly  virtues  practiced  in  town  and  coun- 
try. Who  can  tell  how  m^any  of  these  two  hundred  boys  survived 
their  paganism  and  their  ferocious  hatred  of  the  hunted  Christians, 
to  kneel  in  sorrow  and  in  reverence  at  the  lowly  shrine  whither  the 
country  far  and  near  flocked  annually  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of 
that  tragic  but  glorious  death  ? 

St.  Peter,  archbishop  of  the  neighboring  Ravenna,  and  called 
Chiysologus  (‘‘of  the  golden  speech  ”),  was  one  of  those  beautiful 
souls  that  sprung  up  from  that  blessed  soil  in  the  next  age.  How 
should  we  not  hope  that  another  generation,  in  our  own  days,  who 
have  been  taught  by  the  godly  life  and  golden  deeds  and  words  of 
Giovanni  Mastai,  may  not  all  die  hostile  to  the  sacred  cause  in 
which  he  has  suffered  for  well-nigh  a century  ? Have  they  not 
turned  against  the  good  shepherd  his  very  deeds  of  fatherly  love, 
and  pierced,  in  presence  of  the  whole  Christian  world,  the  heart 
that  loved  them  so  well  ? And  shall  his  prayer,  living  and  dying, 
for  them  and  for  Italy,  not  avail  to  save  both  the  one  and  the 
other  ? 

In  1832  this  portion  of  the  Papal  States  went  by  the  name  of 
Romagna ; at  present  it  is  called  Emilia.  “The  people  of  Emilia,” 
says  a modern  traveler,  “ are  almost  invariably  kind,  civil,  and  hos- 
pitable to  strangers.  They  are  celebrated  for  their  beauty,  especially 
* the  women  of  Pesaro  and  Fano,  while  the  young  men  of  Forli  are 
considered  the  noblest  specimens  of  humanity  in  existence.  The 
men  have  no  national  costume ; women  of  the  upper  classes  generally 
wear  knitted  vails,  something  like  Spanish  mantillas,  especially  in  the 
churches.  The  Emilia  is  very  richly  cultivated,  the  partition  system 
being  adopted,  by  which  the  owner  lets  out  the  land  to  the  conta- 
dino,  for  the  benefit  of  his  labor  and  implements,  receiving  half  the 
produce  in  return.” 

It  was  to  this  beautiful  country  and  richly-gifted  people  that 
Archbishop  Mastai  came  in  February,  1833,  heralded  by  the  fame  of 
his  priestly  virtues,  his  popular  eloquence,  and  his  enlightened 
patriotism.  For  there  were  those  who  industriously  spread  the  re- 
port that  the  counsels  then  prevailing  at  the  Quirinal  were  not 
friendly  toward  the  Archbishop  of  Spoleto,  and  that  he,  in  turn, 


Political  Passiojis. 


59 


was  of  too  adyanced  a liberalism  to  brook  patiently  the  rigorons 
measures  in  favor  with  Gregory  XVI.  Of  such  dissentiment  we 
have  no  proof.  What  is  unquestionable  is  the  absolute  and  unspar- 
ing devotion  of  Archbishop  Mastai  to  the  duties  of  his  new  office, 
shown  by  word  and  act,  from  the  day  of  his  arrival  in  Imola.  This 
is  so  well  attested  by  friends  and  foes  alike  that  we  may  well  forget 
the  babble  and  gossip  of  political  fanaticism,  to  study  a new  and 
rich  page  in  a life  so  full  of  lofty  teachings. 

Imola  and  its  diocese  offered  a wider  field  than  Spoleto  to  the  zeal 
of  its  new  bishop.  Its  population  was  at  least  double  ; and  had  the 
purpose  of  Gregory  XVI.  been  to  afford  the  impoverished  archbishop 
an  opportunity  for  recruiting  his  finances,  the  change,  in  this  respect, 
had  been  a most  favorable  one.  The  revenues  of  his  second  see, 
without  being  anything  like  the  salary  of  a first-class  Protestant  pas- 
tor in  Xew  York,  were  comparatively  handsome.  But  such  motives 
had  not  influenced  the  Pope  in  this  appointment.  It  was  a promo- 
tion from  a less  to  a more  honorable  position — although  Imola  was 
not  an  archbishopric — from  a difficult  charge  in  one  place,  admir- 
ably fulfilled,  to  a far  more  difficult  one  in  another.  Imola  had  been 
the  episcopal  city  of  Cardinal  Barnabe  Chiaramonte,  when  he  was 
elected  to  be  Pope  Pius  VII.  When  he  left  his  flock  in  that  memor- 
able December,  1799,  to  meet  his  brother-cardinals  in  conclave  at 
Venice,  his  charities  had  made  him  so  poor  that  a friend  had  to  pay 
his  way  from  stage  to  stage.  We  shall,  at  the  end  of  this  chapter, 
have  to  chronicle  of  his  successor  something  very  like  that  charity 
and  splendid  poverty. 

At  the  arrival  of  Archbishop  Mastai  in  Imola,  the  whole  of 
Northern  Italy  was  in  a fearful  state  of  agitation.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  archbishop’s  views  of  Italian  or  papal  policy,  his,  cer- 
tainly, was  not  the  disposition  to  advocate  repression  when  timely 
concession  might  have  been  salutary,  nor  to  counsel  penal  enact- 
ments where  a fatherly  generosity  and  clemency,  in  a priestly  gov- 
ernment, would  be  most  likely  to  win  back  the  erring. 

He  began  his  administration  by  urging  the  execution  of  two  par- 
allel scries  of  measures,  the  one  aiming  at  raising  as  high  as  possible 
the  standard  of  education  and  morality  among  his  clergy,  the  other 
destined  to  meet  every  bodily  and  spiritual  need  of  his  flock. 

A single  instance  of  his  enlightened  and  fatherly  liberality,  chosen 
from  among  so  many,  will  enable  the  reader  to  understand  how  such 
a bishop  should  have  been  reverenced  and  loved  alike  by  the  bitterest 


6o 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


political  antagonists  and  the  most  submissiye  of  his  flock.  It  is  taken 
from  the  autograph  memoirs  of  a man  entrapped  during  these  very 
years  into  tlie  meshes  of  the  ‘‘Young  Italy  League,”  and  hurried  hy 
the  passions  inspired  by  Mazzini’s  unhallowed  spirit  into  one  politi- 
cal crime  after  another,  till  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  sacrifice  several 
iiinocent  lives  in  attempting  that  of  a sovereign,  and  then  perishing, 
unblessed  and  unblessing,  on  tlie  scaffold.  We  mean  Felice  Orsini, 
the  gifted,  the  wayward,  and  the  supremely  unfortunate. 

In  1834,  while  yet  in  his  fifteenth  year,  Orsini,  who  lived  with  an 
uncle  at  Imola,  had  his  imagination  so  filled  with  the  visions  of 
Italian  liberty,  that  his  whole  time  was  spent  in  martial  exercises 
calculated  to  prepare  him  for  his  intended  share  in  the  coming  bat- 
tles for  freedom.  The  conservatives  had  gotten  up  a counter-organi- 
zation among  the  peasantry  and  citizens.  This  was  divided  into 
bands  or  companies  of  a hundred  men,  called  centuries,  the  captains 
being  termed  “centurions,”  a name  which  finally  came  to  designate 
every  member  of  this  ill-starred  volunteer  militia.  Thus  the  whole 
of  that  lovely  and  teeming  land  was  covered  with  the  meshes  of  a 
double  network  of  armed  political  societies,  hating  each  other  with  a 
hatred  seen  only  in  civil  strife,  and  here  incredibly-  intensified  by  the 
avowed  hostility  to  religion  on  the  one  side,  and  the  professed  jmr- 
pose,  on  the  other,  of  defending  it. 

Orsini  never  v/ent  out  unarmed.  Indeed  he  continually  practiced 
ill  secret  in  shooting  at  a target  with  a pistol  which  was  his  insepar- 
able companion.  This  was  strictly  forbidden  by  the  police  regula- 
tions, and  had  all  the  more  fascination  for  the  wayward  young  hot- 
head that  it  was  forbidden.  Again  and  again  he  quarreled  with  the 
“centurions,”  and  was  only  saved  from  imprisonment  by  the  media- 
tion of  his  uncle,  who  patched  up  a peace  between  Felice  and  his 
detested  enemies.  His  uncle  had  pledged  himself  to  the  magistrates 
that  the  pistol  practice  should  cease,  and  kept  the  obnoxious  weapon 
in  his  own  room  ; and  so  for  some  months  there  was  quiet  in  his 
household.  But  in  June,  1835,  the  uncle  having  had  to  make  a jour- 
ney, Felice,  relieved  from  his  kinsman’s  vigilance,  hurried  to  his 
room,  and  began  to  load  the  pistol.  At  this  moment  a favorite  ser- 
vant of  the  family  entered  the  room,  and  Felice,  in  his  alarm,  think- 
ing it  w^as  his  uncle,  attempted  to  thrust  the  weapon  into  his  pocket, 
discharging  it  in  the  act,  and  mortally  wounding  the  servant. 

It  so  happened  that  the*  latter  had  two  of  his  nearest  relatives 
among  the  “centurions,”  and  Felice,  knowing  that  the  most  serious 


Superior  Ed2icatio7i  of  the  Clergy. 


6i 


consequences  would  result  to  himself  from  this  fatal  accident,  fled 
instantly  and  concealed  himself  among  other  members  of  his  family. 

While  the  magistrates  were  making  diligent  search  for  the  culprit, 
the  archbishop  was  informed  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case, 
and,  totally  indifferent  to  the  wrath  likely  to  be  shown  by  the  ‘^cen- 
turions,” he  wrote  to  the  goyernor  of  Imola  directing  him  to  have  the 
lad,  when  arrested,  conveyed  under  guard  to  the  archiepiscopal  resi- 
dence. He  shielded  him  from  criminal  prosecution,  became  security 
for  his  good  behavior,  and,  happily  unconscious  of  what  the  future 
reserved  to  his  protege,  lavished  on  him  kind  words  and  kinder  acts. 

Such  acts  soon  find  their  way  to  the  hearts  and  the  lips  of  all  men. 
But  there  was  no  lack  of  others  like  them,  though  exercised  for  a far 
different  purpose,  which  bound  the  souls  of  his  people  to  him.  He 
was  accessible  to  all,  no  matter  what  their  rank,  or  age,  or  calling,  at 
every  hour  of  the  night  and  day.  He  was  ruled  in  this  by  the  con- 
viction that  a bishop  is  common  father  to  his  entire  flock,  and  that 
a father’s  door  never  should  be  barred  or  bolted.  There  was  not  a 
case  of  destitution  or  grievous  sickness  that  he  did  not  desire  to  be 
acquainted  with  ; not  a hovel  so  lowly  or  so  loathsome  that  could 
keep  him  out,  if  he  knew  there  was  a soul  there  in  need  of  fatherly 
aid  or  comfort. 

If  he  exhorted  his  priests  to  abnegation  and  self-sacrifice,  all  the 
more  necessary  in  the  social  and  political  condition  of  their  country, 
or  if  he  refused  to  tolerate  pride,  or  prevarication,  or  neglect  in  the 
duties  of  their  sacred  calling,  he  was  ever  the  first  to  set  the  example 
in  heroic  labor  and  endurance,  of  gentleness,  toleration,  and  forbear- 
ance toward  the  erring,  and  of  a conscientious  exactness  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  office  that  all  were  forced  to  admire. 

His  clergy,  conscious  of  the  purity  of  his  life  and  his  motives,  zeal- 
ously seconded  his  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  their  class  ; hence 
the  admirable  establishments  that  he  was  enabled  to  found  for  that 
purpose.  In  the  monastery  of  Piratello,  situated  in  one  of  those 
picturesque  spots,  such  as  St.  Augustine  chose  in  the  autumn  of  381, 
on  the  foot-hills  of  the  Apennines,  to  prepare  himself  for  baptism. 
Archbishop  Mastai  ordained  that  his  clergy  should  meet  every  year 
for  spiritual  renovation.  He  never  failed  to  be  the  first  there,  and 
the  most  edifying  through  all  the  exercises  that  refresh,  restore,  and 
transform  the  soul  wearied  by  life’s  journey  and  life’s  labors. 

He  was  especially  anxious  to  promote  the  study  of  theology  and 
the  Scriptures.  The  old,  richly  endowed  institutions  for  clerical 


62 


Life  of  Pope  Pins  IX. 


studies  had  been  swept  away  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  Napoleon,  and 
the  clergy  were  forced  to  receive  what  education  they  could  in  lay 
establishments,  to  the  great  detriment  of  that  special  science  with- 
out which  a priest  is  no  priest.  This  great  want  the  archbishop  soon 
remedied  by  founding  a theological  seminary,  and  providing  it  with 
a staff  of  professors  in  every  way  fitted  for  their  elevated  calling. 
This  establishment  he  cherished  like  his  own  soul  during  the  four- 
teen years  of  his  administration. 

lie  had  not  forgotten  the  great  good  effected  by  the  joint  labors  of 
Monsignori  Odescalchi  and  Strambi,  in  1818,  among  the  populations 
around  Sinigaglia.  Well  aware  that  his  own  diocesans,  in  city  and 
country  alike,  were  even  more  in  need  of  religious  instruction  and 
spiritual  aid,  he  began,  from  the  very  day  of  his  arrival  at  Imola,  to 
cast  about  for  the  men  who  were  best  fitted  to  do  this  divinest  of 
works  among  Christ’s  people.  The  Jesuits  were  called  to  his  aid  ; 
but,  beside  insufficiency  of  numbers  for  a labor  of  such  magnitude, 
it  was  apparent  to  themselves  and  to  all,  that  the  prejudices  so  care- 
fully fostered  in  the  popular  mind  against  their  Order,  went  far  to 
hinder  the  good  which  their  unquestioned  learning  and  virtue  quali- 
fied them  to  achieve.  Alas ! it  was  not  that  they  had  changed ; 
they  were  still  the  worthy  successors  of  Ignatius  and  his  eight  com- 
panions, when,  exactly  three  hundred  years  before,  they  preached  the 
divine  name  so  triumphantly  all  through  that  same  region.  They 
were  not  unworthy  of  being  called  the  brethren  of  the  great  orator 
and  missionary  Paul  Segneri ; but  the  Italy  of  that  day  was  not  the 
Italy  that  was  thrilled  and  converted  by  Paul  Segneri.  The  zealous 
archbishop  had  no  choice  but  to  form  a select  body  of  missionaries, 
as  St.  Charles  Borromeo  had  done  long  before,  from  the  most  learned 
and  exemplary  members  of  his  own  secular  clergy.  He  shared  their 
labors  himself,  so  far  as  his  other  duties  permitted  him,  taking  to 
himself  the  most  obscure  and  painful  of  the  mission  work. 

That  ho  should  endeavor  to  endow  his  diocese  with  beneficent  insti- 
tutions and  industrial  schools  on  the  model  of  those  he  had  directed  in 
Rome  and  founded  at  Spoleto,  the  reader  is  prepared  to  expect.  To 
the  care  and  management  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  the  good  bishop 
intrusted  a conservatory  of  female  orphans,  and  in  the  same  establish- 
ment founded  two  female  schools,  one  for  girls  of  the  poorer  class, 
and  the  other  for  those  of  the  more  wealthy. , He  also  intrusted  the 
public  hospital  to  the  same  Sisters ; and,  adjoining  it,  he  erected  an 
asylum  for  the  insane.” — Rome  and  its  Ruler , p.  19. 


The  Good  Shepherd, 


63 


Th(‘re  was  one  class  of  most  needy  souls  that  the  charitable  arch- 
bishop yearned  to  succor  adequately  through  all  these  well-filled  years 
of  his  stay  in  Imola.  One  cannot  hut  remember  with  emotion  the 
scene  that  took  place  in  Galilee,  at  the  banquet  given  to  the  Master 
by  Simon  the  Pharisee.  There  is  an  exquisite  delicacy  and  tender- 
ness in  the  vail  which  both  he  and  the  inspired  historian  throw  over 
the  nature  of  the  guilt  and  the  manner  of  conversion  of  the  wo- 
man who  was  in  the  city,  a sinner.”  The  Good  Shepherd,  as  we 
know,  again  and  again  made  the  circuit  of  populous  Galilee,  with  its 
two  hundred  cities  and  towns,  on  foot,  unwearied  by  ill  success,  ahd 
seeking  the  while  this  lost  one,  and  such  as  she.  And  when  she  steals 
into  the  banquet-ball,  in  the  city  where  she  is  so  well  known,  and  be- 
neath the  very  gaze  of  the  proud  Pharisees,  who  had  no  saving  grace 
for  such  fallen  ones,  how  he  defends  her  against  their  sneers  with 
the  arguments  of  an  eloquence  and  a charity  earth  had  not  known  till 
then ! 

In  that  land  of  France,  so  fruitful  in  every  species  of  heroism, 
orders  of  men  and  women — some  of  them  exclusively  composed  of  the 
most  noble  in  the  land — had,  all  through  the  middle  ages,  arisen 
to  take  under  their  most  tender  care  the  most  fearful  forms  of 
bodily  and  spiritual  leprosy.  An  establishment  of  Sisters  of  Charity 
founded  at  Caen,  in  Normandy,  in  1641,  by  the  venerable  Jean 
Eudes,  put  forth,  in  1835,  at  Angers,  a blessed  branch,  now  multi- 
plied all  over  the  Christian  world,  and  devoted,  like  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, whose  name  it  bears,  to  the  care  of  these  most  needy  ones  of 
all  his  wide  fiock. 

The  fame  of  the  Sisterhood  of  Angers  reached  the  noble  Arch- 
bishop of  Imola,  despite  the  intervening  Alps,  and,  although  his 
purse  was  empty,  and  no  house  had  been  prepared  or  purchased  for 
their  reception,  four  of  the  heroic  band  set  out,  at  his  earnest 
prayer,  and  reached  Imola  in  the  summer  of  1845.  The  Master  had 
allowed  the  nameless  one  of  the  gospel  to  approach  his  feet  and 
pour  her  tears  upon  them,  and  wipe  them  with  her  hair,  and  kiss 
them.  Archbishop  Masta’i,  while  stirring  up  his  people  to  give 
these  devoted  disciples  of  the  incarnate  mercy  a home  for  themselves 
and  the  stray  ones  they  were  expecting,  lodged  them  in  his  own 
palace,  as  he  would  have  lodged  the  Good  Shepherd  had  he  knocked 
at  his  gate,  and  would  have  no  other  than  himself  wait  on  them 
at  table  so  long  as  they  abode  there.  Let  the  following  touching 
letter  tell  its  own  story.  It  is  a more  life-like  portraiture  of  the 


64 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


writer  than  any  statue  ever  erected  to  him  at  Imola,  Eome,  or 
throughout  the  Catholic  world  that  hails  him  father. 

'^Very  Reverend  Mother-General: — Your  Reverence  must 
have  already  received  from  your  dear  daughters  the  details  of  their 
safe  arrival  at  Imola  ; but  it  is  proper  that  I should  inform  you  my- 
self of  this  event,  and  that  I should,  at  the  same  time,  express  to 
you  the  great  consolation  I feel  at  seeing  myself  the  possessor  of 
such  a treasure  as  this  little  band  of  consecrated  virgins,  who,  a few 
dajs  hence,  will  begin  their  saving  mission  in  behalf  of  so  many 
poor  wanderers  from  the  flock.  I feel  certain  that,  with  the  divine 
assistance,  they  will  bring  them  back  to  the  fold  of  the  Prince  of 
Shepherds,  Christ  Jesu-s.  May  this  God  of  mercy  he  everlastingly 
blessed  ! And  I beg  your  Reverence  to  accept  the  assurance  of  my 
deepest  gratitude.  I have  the  consolation  of  having  them  with  me 
in  my  palace.  I have  much  reason  to  thank  the  Lord,  who  holds  in 
his  hands  the  hearts  of  men  ; but  it  seems  to  me  that  he  keeps  the 
hearts  of  your  daughters  not  in  his  hands,  hut  in  his  heart.  I shall 
not  fail  to  render  them  every  assistance  in  their  need,  and  from  that 
thought  I return  to  the  pleasure  of  assuring  you  once  more  that  I 
am,  with  deep  respeet. 

Your  Maternity’s  attached  servant, 

Jean  Marie,  Cai*dinal  Mastai,  Archbishop-hishop. 

“ liiOLA,  14tli  September,  1845.” 

The  date  of  this  letter,  and  the  title  assumed  by  the  writer,  show 
that  we  have  been  anticipating.  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to 
dwell  a little  longer  on  these  years  of  incessant  and  fruitful  labor 
spent  at  Imola.  If  any  churchman  in  Italy  could  have  appeased  the 
fierce  political  passions  that  burned  and  seethed  in  Italian  breasts, 
more  terrible  in  their  prophetic  mutterings  of  evil  than  the  fires  of 
Etna  or  Vesuvius,  that  man  was  Archbishop  Mastai.  Just  about 
this  time  the  Christian  League”  was  formed  in  Kew  York  for 
the  acknowledged  purpose  of  ‘‘evangelizing”  Italy,  and,  in  reality, 
to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  Mazzinists,  Radicals,  Jews,  and  revo- 
lutionists of  every  color  who  were  aiming  at  the  overthrow  of  the 
papacy,  under  the  pretext  of  achieving  the  liberation  and  unification 
of  Italy. 

Vie  can  only  remark  here,  in  advance,  that  with  all  these  occult 
forces  spreading  and  gathering  strength  at  home  among  the  middle 
classes  of  her  population,  and  with  these  powerful  auxiliaries  lend- 


65 


The  Archbishop  nearly  Carried  off, 

ing  reyolution  and  radicalism  the  almost  undiyided  support  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  it  was  impossible  that  Italy  should  not  be  conyulsed 
again  and  again,  as  with  the  throes  of  an  earthquake.  No  human 
prudence  could  deyise  a preyentiye,  and  no  human  power  apply  it. 

These  growing  symptoms  of  a coming  catastrophe.  Archbishop 
Masta'i  had  noted  at  Imola  year  after  year,  while  churchmen  and 
statesmen  were  alike  perplexed  as  to  the  remedial  measures  to  be 
employed  amid  the  growing  unrest.  He,  for  one,  deemed  the  use 
of  the  feeble  and  utterly  inadequate  repressiye  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  pontifical  authority,  to  put  down  discontent  in  the  proyinces  or 
to  punish  the  agitators,  as  utterly  futile  and  insane  as  to  attempt 
to  shake  one’s  fist  at  the  wayes  when  they  fret  and  rise  against  tlie 
breakwater,  or  to  lash  them  when  they  haye  demolished  it. 

He  preached  peace,  submission,  and  all  the  holiest  Christian  yir- 
tues  to  his  flock ; he  and  his  priests  gaye  them  the  constant  example 
of  abnegation,  disinterestedness,  and  deyotion  to  all  their  best  inter- 
ests. The  neighboring  bishops  who  honored  him  with  their  friend- 
ship, or  who  consulted  with  him  about  the  necessities  of  the  times, 
he  counseled  to  do  as  he  did  himself.  Indeed,  he  incurred  the 
enmity  of  more  than  one  of  the  powerful  officials  in  fayor  of  ener- 
getic repression,  by  being  eyer  consistent  with  himself,  and  showing 
himself  unyaryingly  the  man  of  God  and  the  man  of  peace. 

In  truth,  the  men  who  plotted,  conspired,  agitated,  were  not  to  be 
conciliated  by  any  show  of  goodness  or  generosity.  It  is  now  an  in- 
disputable historical  fact  that,  among  the  liberals  of  Piedmont,  the 
idea  of  a constitutional  Italy,  under  the  sole  soyereignty  of  the  house 
of  Sayoy,  was  at  that  time  thoroughly  shaped  and  adopted,  and  that 
not  oyermuch  pains  was  taken  to  conceal  the  sympathy  of  the  leaders 
with  ‘‘Young  Italy”  and  the  other  agitators.  In  the  Romagna,  as 
in  Tuscany,  the  friends  and  adyocates  of  national  unity  were  in  close 
contact  with  the  Piedmontese  Mazzinists.  These  had  their  base  of 
operations  on  the  Piedmontese  frontier  while  agitating  the  Papal 
territories,  and  when  some  imprudent  or  outrageous  act  compromised 
them,  they  were  speedily  and  safely  conyeyed  into  Piedmont  by  their 
allies  among  the  Romagnese. 

So  little  were  these  men  touched  by  the  shining  priestly  yirtues  of 
Archbishop  Masta’i,  or  by  his  well-known  liberal  principles  and  large 
patriotism,  that  one  of  the  most  notorious  Piedmontese  conspirators, 
Ribotti,  had  at  one  time  resolyed  to  carry  him  ofi  with  two  cardinals 
who  were  yisiting  him  in  the  country. 


66 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


At  tlie  head  of  an  armed  band  Ribotti  bad  actnally  penetrated  intc 
the  bouse  by  night,  and  was  only  prevented  from  effecting  bis  pur- 
pose by  Archbishop  Mastai’s  presence  of  mind  and  intrepidity. 

The  merits  of  the  Archbishop  of  Imola  were  such,  and  the  services 
be  bad  rendered  to  Church  and  State  so  eminent,  that  a still  higher 
promotion  was  inevitable  in  his  case.  It  came  at  length.  The  Pope 
announced  his  intention  of  elevating  him  to  the  cardinalate,  in  a 
secret  consistory  held  on  December  the  23d,  1839,  but  he  was  not 
openly  proclaimed  cardinal  till  December  the  14th,  1840.  This 
honor  came  to  the  archbishop  unsought  for  and  undesired.  It 
found  him  so  poor  that  he  had  not  wherewith  to  make  the  neces- 
sary outlay  attendant  on  his  elevation  ; and  his  poor  clergy,  with  a 
few  friends,  had  to  come  to  his  assistance,  thus  enabling  him  to 
perform  the  customary  journey  to  Rome,  and  to  bestow  the  usual 
liberalities  on  the  needy  institutions  connected  with  his  dignity. 

The  rank  thus  conferred  on  him  made  no  change  whatever  in  his 
household,  and  relations  with  his  clergy  and  people,  or  in  the  simple 
habits  of  his  laborious  life.  If  any  feeling  of  satisfaction  arose  in 
him  on  this  occasion,  it  may  have  come  from  the  joy  manifested  by 
his  venerable  mother  at  beholding  the  child  of  her  tears  and  prayers 
raised  to  an  eminence  deserved,  confessedly,  by  his  many  public  and 
private  virtues.  From  time  immemorial  it  was  the  cherished  dream 
of  every  Italian  mother  who  gave  a son  of  hers  to  the  service  of  the 
altar,  that  she  might  see  him  a cardinal  of  holy  Church. 

Xo  such  ambition,  though  never  so  blameless  in  a mother,  ani- 
mated Caterina  Masta'i  when  she  first  offered  her  boy  to  the  divine 
service.  She  had  her  reward  in  his  career  of  unblemished  virtue  and 
self-sacrifice  ; and  all  ambition  in  her  motherly  heart  was  more  than 
satisfied  by  hearing  his  praises  sounded  by  all  Italy.  At  any  rate,  it 
was  a moment  of  holy  exultation  when  she  was  called  to  Rome  to 
preside  over  the  festivities  held  in  honor  of  Cardinal  Mastai  on  his 
receiving  the  ring  and  hat  from  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 
The  unfeigned  joy  of  the  inmates  of  Tata  Giovanni  and  San  Michele, 
and  the  unpurchased  acclamations  of  the  poorer  classes  who  had 
such  good  cause  to  love  him,  went  to  the  mother’s  heart  much  more 
than  the  felicitations  of  the  Roman  nobility  and  clergy. 

It  was  her  last  and  supreme  triumph  on  earth.  Her  husband  was 
not  by  her  side  to  share  the  homage  paid  her  by  her  son  and  the 
splendid  assemblages  met  to  congratulate  her.  Count  Girolamo  died 
on  December  the  1st,  1833.  Two  years  after  her  return  from  Rome 


Death  of  Gregory  XVI. 


67 

to  Sinigaglia,  the  yenerable  countess  closed  her  useful  and  spotless 
life,  blessed  and  revered  by  all  Sinigaglia. 

While  living  at  Imola,  Cardinal  Mastai  made  it  bis  duty  and  de- 
light to  visit  his  mother  as  often  as  his  many  labors  permitted. 
Devotion  to  his  sacred  calling,  instead  of  chilling  in  him  the  cur- 
rents of  filial  affection,  only  served  to  deepen  and  strengthen  them. 
He  had  to  inculcate  unceasingly  on  those  under  his  care  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  cherishing  all  the  home  virtues,  without  which 
there  is  no  Christian  life  or  true  manhood  or  womanhood  : how 
could  he  fail  to  appreciate  more  fully,  as  his  experience  of  life  in- 
creased, the  treasure  with  which  he  had  been  blessed  in  the  love  of 
such  a mother  and  the  ennobling  example  of  his  father  ? 

The  interval  between  1841  and  June,  1846,  soon  flew  by  for  the 
cardinal-archbishop,  full  as  his  every  day  was  of  weighty  cares  and 
toil  that  knew  not  cessation.  He  applied  himself  with  renewed  energy 
to  perfect  the  various  establishments  he  had  created,  his  schools 
of  theology  and  biblical  literature  especially.  The  formation  of  a 
clergy  superior  in  knowledge  as  in  virtue  to  the  world  they  had  to 
enlighten  and  sanctify,  continued  to  absorb  him  above  every  other 
care. 

It  was  while  with  his  priests  in  the  holy  solitude  of  Piratello,  for- 
getful of  the  outside  world,  and  meditating  on  the  everlasting  years,” 
that  he  was  startled  by  learning  the  death  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  on 
June  1,  1846,  and  by  the  summons  calling  him  forthwith  to  Eome 
to  elect  a successor  to  the  deceased  pontiff. 

He  learned  at  the  same  time  the  touching  circumstances  accom- 
panying Gregory’s  latest  hours.  He  had  been,  like  Pius  VII.,  a poor 
monk  before  his  elevation  to  any  ecclesiastical  dignity,  and,  like 
Pius,  devotedly  attached  to  his  lowly  calling,  he  wished  to  die  stripped 
of  all  the  pomp  and  show  of  earthly  dignity,  on  the  monk’s  lowly 
pallet,  in  poverty  of  all  things. 

To  die  thus,  ‘‘like  a monk,”  on  sackcloth  and  ashes,  was  the  wish 
and  injunction  of  Gregory  to  those  around  him.  But  as  his  was  a 
most  robust  constitution,  no  one  believed  his  end  was  so  near,  and 
so,  placed  in  a poor  cell,  recalling  the  former  abode  of  the  humble 
Carnal dolese,*  Mauro  Cappellari,  expired  suddenly  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  able  men  that  ever  filled  the  chair  of  Peter. 


* The  Camaldolese  or  Camaldules,  -were  founded  in  1012,  in  the  valley  of 
Camaldoli,  near  Arezzo,  by  St.  Romuald,  a Benedictine  monk.  The  Order  is 


68 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Cardinal  MastaT  related  these  edifying  circumstances  to  his  as- 
sembled priests,  and,  comforting  himself  with  the  thought  that 
blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,”  he  set  out  for  Eome,  traveling  like 
Bamabe  Chiaramonte,  on  a similar  errand,  at  the  expense  of  gener- 
ous friends. 


divided  into  monks  and  hermits — both  classes  living  occasionally  in  one  mon- 
Eistery.  All  who  have  spent  any  time  in  Rome  before  1870,  must  remember  the 
beautiful  Camaldoli  near  Tusculum,  looking,  when  seen  from  the  neighboring 
hilltop,  “ a very  neat  and  regular  village.  A row  of  houses,  equidistant  and 
sjTnmetrical,  united  by  a continuous  dwarf  wall,  and  a church  with  its  towers 
in  the  midst,  all  of  a dazzling  whiteness.  . . . The  sight  would  certainly 

deceive  one,  but  not  so  the  ears.  There  is  a bell  that  knows  no  sleeping.  . . . 
Such  an  unceasing  call  to  prayer  and  praise  can  only  be  answered  by  ancho- 
rites. And  to  such  does  this  sweet  abode  belong.  . , . It  is  truly  a village 
divided  by  streets,  in  each  of  which  are  rows  of  houses  exactly  symmetrical. 
A small  sitting-room,  a sleeping-cell,  a chapel  completely  fitted  up,  in  case  of 
illness,  and  a wood  and  lumber  room,  compose  the  cottage.  ...  A garden, 
which  the  occupant  tills,  but  only  for  fiowers — and  a fountain.” 


CHAPTER  yn. 


Fbom  Imola  to  the  Cohclaye — Anticipations  and  Peognostics 
— Conflicting  Intekests  and  Pketensions  of  so-called 
Catholic  Poweks — Divisions  in  the  College  of  Cardi- 
nals— Political  Excitement  in  Rome  and  throughout 
Italy  at  the  opening  of  the  Conclave — The  Cardinals 

HASTEN  TO  ELECT  MaSTAI. 

June,  1846. 

SO  far  these  pages  have  dealt  with  the  personal  character  of 
Giovanni-Maria  Mastai-Ferretti  as  displayed  in  his  boyhood, 
youth,  and  the  early  years  of  his  priesthood ; then,  the  reader  was 
made  acquainted  with  his  qualities  as  evidenced  in  the  administra- 
tion of  two  important  dioceses.  With  the  management  of  merely 
secular  or  political  matters  Cardinal  Mastai  had  nothing  to  do,  if 
we  except  his  very  brief  experience  in  South  America,  and  the  dis- 
charge, during  a short  space  at  Spoleto,  of  the  functions  of  civil  gov- 
ernor of  Perugia.  Had  he  been  allowed  to  follow  up  the  diplomatic 
career  begun  in  Chili,  and  passed  through  all  the  degrees  of  the  very 
important  service  once  filled  by  the  representatives  of  the  Holy  See 
in  foreign  courts,  or  at  home  in  the  administration  of  the  States  of 
the  Church,  there  is  no  question  but  his  natural  talent  would  have 
enabled  him  to  acquire  that  practical  knowledge  of  statecraft,  with- 
out which  a mere  churchman,  though  never  so  honest  and  clever,  is 
exposed  to  blunder  sadly  in  solving  political  problems. 

Had  such  training  been  allowed  to  Cardinal  Mastai,  the  story  of 
his  life  might  have  been  quite  different  from  what  remains  to  be 
told,  and  the  history  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
would  have  been  considerably  modified.  But  he  was  no  professed 
and  experienced  politician,  no  well-trained  statesman,  who,  in  the 
early  June  of  1846,  set  his  face  toward  Rome,  where  the  most  mo- 
mentous election  that  ever  took  place  among  the  successors  of  the 
Fisherman  awaited  his  coming. 

He  journeyed  by  rapid  stages  along  the  familiar  Adriatic  seaboard 
as  far  as  Fano,  and  thence  he  followed,  across  the  Apennines,  by  Fos- 

69 


70 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX, 


Bombrone,  Cagli,  Foligno,  and  Spoleto,  the  great  highway  that  has 
replaced  the  ancient  Flaminian  Road.”  It  led  him,  in  midsummer, 
when  the  teeming  earth  displayed  all  its  riches,  through  territories 
blessed  with  all  that  the  hand  of  God  could  lavish  of  varied  wealth  ; 
and  the  thrift  of  man  had  improved  the  Creator’s  bounty.  On  either 
side  of  the  mighty  central  range,  in  Urbino  on  the  east,  in  Umbria  on 
the  western  slope,  the  rich  valleys  and  no  less  rich  mountain-sides 
did  seem  like  the  paradise  of  God.  At  every  stage  of  the  journey 
ancient  cities  arose  to  greet  the  travelers,  crowning  the  hilltops  amid 
the  hars' est-laden  plains,  or  creeping  up  their  sides,  row  above  row 
of  ancient,  picturesque  dwellings,  with  dome  and  tower  here  and 
there,  like  ranks  of  a shining  army  helping  each  other  heavenward. 

That  land,  so  fertile  and  smiling  so  peacefully  on  the  passer-by 
beneath  the  morning  or  evening  sun  of  the  lovely  June  weather,  had 
been  for  ages  under  the  paternal  rule  of  its  pontiff  kings,  and  seemed 
to  be  then  covered  with  the  blessings  of  long  peace  and  prosperity — 
so  calm,  so  fair,  so  fertile,  so  happy  it  lay  in  its  mingled  light  and 
fragrance  ! And  its  people  ? We  have  said  a little,  and  but  very 
little,  of  that  people  so  favored,  so  wrought  upon  by  evil  counselors, 
so  misled  in  the  conflict  of  the  flerce  passions  that  swayed  them. 

They,  too,  in  these  memorable  days  of  early  June,  1846,  were  agi- 
tated by  contradictory  hopes  and  fears.  The  death  of  Gregory  XVI. 
had  raised  to  an  intolerable  degree  of  tension  the  impatience  of 

Young  Italy”  to  strike  at  once  for  the  abolition  of  papal  rule. 
Seditious  rumors  and  ardently  expressed  hopes  of  change  loaded  every 
wind  that  blew  along  the  Italian  rivers  as  they  went  their  way  to  join 
the  Adriatic  or  the  Mediterranean.  But  along  that  land  of  beauty 
there  were  others,  and  they  were  the  greater  number — the  tillers  of  the 
soil — whose  only  prayer  was  for  peace,  who  besought  heaven  earnestly 
to  grant  them  a wise  pontiff  king,  firm  to  repress  disorder,  gentle  in 
dealing  with  the  erring,  and  bent  on  lightening  the  burden  of  the 
children  of  toil. 

It  was  amongst  such  a mixed  crowd  that  the  Archbishop  of  Imola 
fell,  as  the  carriage  which  bore  him  rolled  into  Fossombrone.  This 
was  his  own  country,  within  a few  miles  of  Sinigaglia ; they  were  all 
proud  of  him,  and  being  such  as  he  was,  he  above  all  men  was  their 
choice  for  the  vacant  pontifical  chair.  The  popular  tradition  will 
have  it  that  as  he  tarried  for  a brief  rest,  to  receive  the  homage  of 
the  magistrates  and  a few  friends,  a white  dove  suddenly  lighted  on 
the  carriage,  and  there  it  persisted  in  perching  till  they  were  within 


Anticipations  and  Prognostics,  71 

sight  of  Eome.  It  is  a graceful  fancy  added  to  the  popular  yeneralion 
for  the  man.  What  is  certain  is,  that  their  preference  for  the  gentle 
and  large-hearted  archbishop  Tented  itself  in  loud  cries  of  There 
goes  our  next  Pope  ! ” “Long  life  to  him  I ” etc. 

AYe  who  have  witnessed  the  events  which  have  filled  up  his  after- 
life may  well  question  if,  on  the  steep  incline  down  which  Italy  was 
impelled,  much  more  even  by  external  forces  than  by  the  un- 
controllable passions  of  her  dominant  factions,  any  man  could  have 
been  chosen  whose  acts  might  have  arrested  this  downward  velocity, 
or  whose  frustrated  intentions  could  have  made  the  righteous  cause 
more  venerable,  and  the  cause  of  revolution  more  odious  in  the  eyes  of 
all  future  generations. 

Whatever  be  the  truth  of  the  legend,  it  cannot  he  doubted  by  any 
one  acquainted  with  the  unselfish  soul  of  the  prelate  who  was  thus  hur- 
rying forward  to  the  conclave,  that  two  interests  alone  were  upper- 
most in  his  thoughts — the  interests  of  the  Church  which  had  created 
Christian  Italy,  and  the  pacification  of  his  native  land  torn  by 
unceasing  strife  and  divided  by  interests  seemingly  irreconcilable. 
Cardinal  Mastai  was  in  his  fifty-fifth  year ; twenty-six  years  had 
been  spent  in  zealous  labors  directed  toward  the  welfare  of  his 
countrymen.  He  had  been  a keen  observer  of  events,  had  been 
frequently  called  to  the  field  on  which  parties  had  been  giving  mortal 
battle ; he  had  bound  up  the  wounds  of  both  parties,  had  buried 
their  dead,  and  would  willingly  have  laid  down  his  life  to  bury  in 
the  same  grave  the  real  or  fancied  ills  of  which  Italians  complained, 
and  about  which  they  fought,  brother  against  brother.  He  had, 
with  the  authority  of  his  place  and  personal  merit,  advised  reform, 
moderation,  and  conciliation,  and  had  not  unfrequently  opposed 
with  unflinching  firmness  measures  which  he  deemed  unwise,  inop- 
portune, or  unpatriotic. 

He  was  one  of  the  electors  of  the  future  pontiff  of  the  Church  he 
loved  as  the  spouse  of  Christ,  of  the  future  sovereign  of  a country  he 
loved  as  his  mother,  with  that  passionate  love  characteristic  of  his 
race.  Surely  he  also  must  have  canvassed,  with  his  own  thoughts  at 
'least,  the  respective  merits  of  those  among  his  colleagues  who  were 
best  able  to  bear  the  awful  burden  of  reconciling  Italy  with  the 
Eoman  See  and  the  Catholic  Church.  That  his  thoughts  did  not 
deliberately  dwell  on  the  chances  in  his  own  favor — even  were  he 
ambitious  of  the  perilous  honor — ^is  exceedingly  probable.  They  did 
not  choose,  as  a general  rule,  men  so  young  as  he  for  the  papal 


72 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


office ; and  besides,  he  was  untrained  in  the  science  of  statesman- 
ship, more  than  ever  indispensable  amid  the  present  political  com- 
plications. 

Austria  and  France  were  persistently  contending  for  ascendency 
over  the  Koman  councils  and  a quasi-protectorate  over  all  Italy; 
the  Sardinian  government  at  the  north,  and  the  Neapolitan  at  the 
south,  were  equally  opposed  to  foreign  influence  of  any  kind  ; while 
the  former  was  slowly  but  surely  maturing  the  schemes  which  the 
genius  of  Cavour  was  one  day  to  execute  so  successfully.  Not  one  of 
these  so-called  Catholic  governments  felt  the  slightest  concern  about 
the  great  religious  interests  involved  in  ‘Hhe  Eoman  question,”  or 
sought  in  shaping  the  papacy  to  their  own  views  any  other  purpose 
but  their  own  political  importance.  As  to  Spain,  she  had  waged 
open  war  with  the  three  last  Popes,  and  had  again  and  again  been  on 
the  very  verge  of  a formal  schism.  England  during  the  reign  of 
Pius  VII.  had  nobly  upheld  him  and  vindicated  his  temporal  in- 
dependence, because  in  the  hour  of  her  need  that  independence  had' 
been  sacrificed  heroically  in  the  interest  of  peace,  rather  than  be 
exercised  as  a war-power  on  the  side  of  a mighty  conqueror.  But 
the  struggle  with  Bonaparte  once  ended,  the  whole  current  of  Eng- 
land’s Protestant  sympathies  ran  in  the  direction  of  the  Carbonari 
and  Mazzinists.  During  the  reign  of  Gregory  XVI.  the  foreign  pol- 
icy of  the  English  government  was  steadily  and  uniformly  directed 
by  Palmerston  in  favor  of  Piedmont  and  the  Italian  conspirators, 
and  against  the  peace  and  independence  of  the  Holy  See.  The 
representatives  of  four  Great  Powers  who  met  in  Rome  while  Arch- 
bishop Mastai  was  displaying  in  Spoleto  his  great  qualities  of  heart, 
only  did  the  will  of  Palmerston  in  presenting  a joint  note  to  Gregory 
XVI.,  which  was  an  outrage  on  his  sovereignty  as  a prince,  and 
made  him  responsible  as  pontiff  for  the  very  agitations  they  were 
themselves  fostering,  and  the  reforms  which  such  agitations  rendered 
impossible  or  abortive. 

Russia  had  sustained  Pius  VII.  because  he,  being  the  common 
father  of  Christendom,  would  not  become  the  war  ally  of  Napoleon. 
But  when  Napoleon  had  been  crushed  and  Pius  had  re-entered  Rome, 
Alexander  and  his  successors  fell  back  on  their  traditional  policy  of 
antagonism  to  the  Roman  Church,  profiting  ever  since  by  the  embar- 
rassments and  helplessness  of  the  Popes  to  stamp  out  in  Poland,  and 
throughout  their  vast  empire,  the  last  sparks  of  Catholic  faith  and 
religious  liberty. 


Conflicting  Interests  and Prete7is  ions  of  Catholic  Powers » 7 3 

I Eow  could  Prussia  be  expected  to  show  more  respect  or  deference 
to  the  court  of  Eome  than  the  powers  styling  themselves  ^^Most 
Christian/’  “Most  Catholic/’  or  “Apostolic,”  while  they  were 
worrying  the  Holy  Father  with  demands  of  concession  utterly  im- 
possible, and  extinguishing  within  their  own  dominions  every  source 
of  distinctive  Catholic  life  ? 

And  now  that  the  little-understood  and  much-calumniated  Gre- 
gory was  lying  in  state  near  his  grave  in  the  Vatican,  these  would- 
be-Catholic  powers  were  bending  all  the  efforts  of  their  diplomatic 
skill  toward  the  sole  purpose  of  securing  the  election  of  a creature  of 
their  own,  and  “excluding,”  by  virtue  of  a privilege  usurped  but 
never  conferred  on  any  of  them,  every  candidate  likely  to  combat 
their  own  preponderating  influence  in  Eome. 

Of  all  this  Cardinal  Mastai  was  perfectly  aware,  as  he  traveled  by 
forced  stages  past  Perugia  and  Spoleto,  and  down  the  valley  of  the 
Tiber  till  the  dome  of  St.  Peter’s  shone  before  him  on  the  distant 
horizon.  To  the  mind  of  one  who  could  read  the  signs  of  the  times, 
how  little  all  future  prognostics  boded  of  peace  for  the  Church  or 
for  Italy  ! To  the  heart  of  the  true  priest  and  man  of  God  that  he 
was,  how  full  of  hopeless,  helpless  gloom  were  the  prospects  of  the 
next  Pope,  whoever  that  might  be  ! 

He  reached  Eome  during  the  solemn  devotions  performed  during 
the  nine  days  intervening  between  the  death  of  a Pope  and  his  burial. 
In  every  church  and  chapel  it  was  customary  to  offer  up  daily 
prayers  for  the  soul  of  him  who  is  on  earth  the  supreme  judge  in 
all  things  spiritual,  but  who  has  to  be  judged,  like  the  lowliest  of 
his  flock,  by  him  “who  searcheth  the  hearts  and  the  loins.” 

Ho  sooner  had  Gregory  been  laid  in  his  tomb  than  the  cardinals 
determined  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  his  successor.  A number  of 
the  most  influential  among  them  were,  indeed,  anxious  to  wait  a 
little  longer,  in  order  to  allow  the  foreign  cardinals  to  arrive  in 
Eome.  This,  however,  was  the  very  thing  the  majority  were  re- 
solved to  prevent. 

Sixty-four  days  had  been  spent  in  conclave  before  the  last  Pope 
was  chosen,  and  this  delay  was  solely  due  to  the  intrigues  of  the 
rival  French  and  Austrian  cardinals,  bent  on  carrying  out  the  views 
of  their  respective  governments  and  electing  only  a candidate  favor- 
able to  their  policy.  This  usurped  right  the  majority  determined  to 
set  aside  once  and  for  ever,  and  that  all  the  more  resolutely  that 
these  powers  cared  little  to  advance  Catholic  interests  on  ordinary 


74 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX. 


occasions,  ur^ng  arrogantly  tlieir  title  and  claim  as  Catholics  only 
when  a Pope  was  to  be  elected. 

France  had  been  defeated  in  every  attempt  to  coerce  the  Sacred 
College,  since  the  scandalous  conclave  in  which  Clement  XIV.  was 
chosen.  Italians  had  never  forgiven  the  pride  and  tyranny  dis- 
played by  the  all-powerful  house  of  Bourbon  on  that  lamentable 
occasion.  The  atrocious  oppression  exercised  by  Napoleon  were 
not  such  as  to  make  the  true-hearted  among  the  electors  forget  the 
humiliations  of  the  past  century  ; the  very  feeble  Catholicism  of  the 
government  at  the  head  of  France,  and  its  behavior  toward  Gregory 
XVI.  on  many  most  important  affairs,  went  far  toward  confirming 
them  in  their  determination  not  to  be  influenced  by  any  of  the 
European  courts. 

But  Austria  held  the  keys  of  Italy  and  the  Papal  States,  and  she 
was  not  a neighbor  likely  to  brook  any  slight  put  on  her  power  or 
privileges.  She  had  long  behaved  as  if  she  had  inherited  all  the 
pretended  rights  of  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal,  and  had  the  exclu- 
sive prerogative  of  deciding  who  should  be  Pope  and  who  not. 

This  was  precisely  what  the  assembled  cardinals  had  made  up 
their  minds  should  never  again  be.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Austrian 
resident  minister  protested  against  the  opening  of  the  conclave  till 
after  the  arrival  of  his  countrymen  with  the  special  plenipotentiary 
always  sent  by  the  court  of  Vienna  to  be  present  in  such  circum- 
stances. 

So  on  the  evening  of  June  the  14th  fifty-four  cardinals  met  in  that 
part  of  the  Quirinal  palace  prepared  for  their  reception,  solemnly  in- 
voked the  light  of  that  Spirit  whom  Christ  had  promised  to  his 
Church,  and  began  the  discussion  of  the  personal  merits  of  their  col- 
leagues. 

They  were  divided  into  two  great  sections  by  their  attitude  toward 
reform  in  the  Papal  States,  or  the  expediency  of  making  certain  con- 
cessions to  modern  society,  so  as  to  temove  the  existing  grounds  of 
hostility  between  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  magistrate ; these 
two  sections  might  be  designated  respectively  as  the  Conservatives 
and  the  Liberals. 

Among  the  former,  the  extreme  wing  were  not  only  in  favor  of 
upholding  the  absolute  authority  of  the  Pope  in  his  quality  of  tem- 
poral ruler,  but  they  would  have  willingly  repealed  all  the  conces- 
sions and  reformatory  measures  of  the  four  last  reigns  ; their  poliey 
in  spirituals  would,  of  course,  have  gone  to  uphold  to  the  utmost 


Divisions  among  the  Ca^'dinals, 


75 


the  prerogatiyes  of  the  Holy  See  ; these  were  known  as  the  Reaction- 
ists, and  common  report  gave  Cardinal  Lambruschini  as  a leader 
to  this  extremely  conservative  section.  The  more  moderate  Con- 
servatives were  for  letting  things  stand  as  they  were  for  the  time, 
giving  the  reforms  granted  a fair  trial  before  granting  more,  bnt 
making  no  step  backwards ; these  were  called  the  ‘^stand-still’’  or 
“ stationary”  party. 

A like  division  reigned  among  the  Liberal  or  Progressist  cardinals. 
The  most  advanced,  numbering  but  a very  small  knot  of  men,  had 
for  their  spokesman  and  representative  Cardinal  Micara,  whose  ex- 
treme .views  went  so  far  that  progress  in  papal  politics  with  'him 
meant  the  almost  total  obliteration  of  the  Pope’s  temporal  sovereignty 
and  the  consequent  imperiling  of  his  spiritual  independence  ; while 
the  concessions  he  was  willing  to  make,  in  order  to  conciliate  modern 
State  pretensions  and  the  claims  of  science,  were  full  of  danger  and 
involved  the  abandonment  of  the  most  cherished  attributes  of  the 
Church  as  the  supreme  judge  of  doctrine  and  morals.  He  was  a 
bold  and  brilliant  man,  and  his  exceeding  popularity  was  shared 
by  Cardinal  Gizzi,  who  without  entertaining  Micara’s  perilous  opin- 
ions, was  in  favor  of  radical  changes  in  Church  and  State.  He  was 
a man  of  great  ability  and  experience  in  public  business,  and  had 
represented  the  Holy  See  in  Switzerland  during  the  difficult  and 
stormy  times  of  the  Sonderbund,  winning  golden  opinions  among 
fi’iends  and  foes  alike. 

The  really  moderate  Liberal  party  comprised  so  large  a number  of 
men  of  all  the  nations  represented  in  the  Sacred  College,  that  if  they 
could  be  brought  to  act  together  they  could  carry  everything  before 
them.  To  these  moderate  Liberals  Cardinal  Mastai  belonged  natur- 
ally, both  by  conviction,  temper,  and  by  the  whole  tenor  of  his  past 
life. 

This  large  and  influential  section  did  not  dream  of  sacriflcing  in 
politics  a tittle  of  the  rightful  sovereignty  of  the  Roman  pontifl;,  or 
of  yielding,  in  the  mutual  relations  between  the  universal  Church 
and  civil  society,  one  inch  of  the  inalienable  domain  of  revealed  or 
deflned  truth.  They  were,  one  and  all,  convinced  that  'Italy,  as  a 
political  power,  could  be  made  to  exist  and  to  act  as  a unit  without 
weakening  in  aught  the  position  or  prerogatives  of  the  ruler  of  the 
Pontiflcal  States  ; they  were  no  less  convinced  that  Christendom  or 
Christian  society  could  not  exist,  as  such,  without  the  supreme  cen- 
tral and  doctrinal  power  to  which  alone  it  belonged  on  all  social 


76 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


questions  to  lay  down  the  law  of  life  or  to  expound  its  true  sense  as 
coming  from  the  Divine  Author  of  revelation. 

Every  man  of  these  moderate  Liberals,  like  Cardinal  Mastai,  believed 
that  the  claims  of  Italian  patriots,  wishing  to  have  one  great  common 
political  power  representing  them  among  the  nations,  were  perfectly 
reconcilable  with  their  rights  and  duties  as  citizens  of  the  Koman 
States.  Every  one  of  them  also  believed  that  no  just  claim  or  right  of 
modern  society,  if  it  still  called  itself  Christian,  could  be  in  antago- 
nism with  the  submission  due  to  that  Church  which  alone  had  the  im- 
perishable and  imprescriptible  right  to  teach  all  nations,  .... 
teaching  them  all  things  whatsoever  ’’  the  Kedeemer  had  com- 
manded.’’ 

In  their  mind  the  conciliation  of  Italy  with  the  papacy  involved 
no  abandonment  of  papal  prerogative,  and  the  conciliation  of  the 
Catholic  Church  with  the  progress  of  modern  society,  with  the  just 
rights  of  liberty,  or  the  demands  of  science,  could  demand  no  sacri- 
fice of  Catholic  principle. 

As  was  natural  and  unavoidable,  since  the  first  tidings  of  the  late 
pontiff’s  death  had  gone  abroad,  every  member  of  the  Electoral  Col- 
lege had  bethought  him  of  the  man  who  would  be  fittest  to  fill  the 
vacant  chair  and  throne,  and  therein  labor  successfully  to  effect  this 
urgent  twofold  reconciliation.  But  there  were  two  men  at  the  time 
in  Rome,  both  of  them  Italians,  of  world- wide  reputation,  eminent 
for  their  genius  and  for  their  patriotism  : the  one — Gioachimo  Raulica 
de  Ventura — was  Italy’s  greatest  living  orator  and  the  head  of  a great 
religious  order  ; the  other — Count  Pellegrino  Rossi — ^was  ambassador 
of  France,  after  having  been  long  exiled  on  account  of  his  political 
opinions  and  acts. 

From  the  moment  of  Pope  Gregory’s  decease  they  had  come 
together  to  consult  on  the  neeessities  and  perils  of  the  situation,  and 
both  resolved  on  using  their  utmost  influence  with  the  electors  to 
choose  the  Cardinal- Archbishop  of  Imola  as  the  next  Pope,  and  to 
choose  him  at  once,  and  while  the  representatives  of  Austria  were  yet 
far  away  from  Rome. 

The  position  held  in  the  Church  by  the  illustrious  Theatine,  as 
well  as  his  transcendent  reputation  for  eloquence,  gave  him  access  to 
every  one  of  the  electors,  on  whom  he  urged  with  a persuasiveness 
inspired  both  by  religion  and  by  patriotism  the  necessity  of  choos- 
ing a man  like  Cardinal  Mastai.  "Where  the  Theatine  might  fail, 
the  ambassador  of  France  was  more  likely  to  succeed.  His  was  an 


The  Conclave, 


77 


elo(iuenco  more  polished  eyen  than  that  of  the  renowned  preacher, 
uniting  the  terseness  of  the  lawyer’s  diction  with  the  exquisite  sim- 
plicity of  diplomatic  intercourse.  That  they  were  assisted  in  this 
electoral  canvass  even  by  such  of  the  most  advanced  Liberals  as 
would  have  under  other  circumstances  opposed  the  Archbishop  of 
Imola,  we  can  gather  from  the  following  anecdote  : 

On  the  14th  of  June,  and  after  the  conclusion  of  the  pontifical 
obsequies,  the  excited  people  filled  the  streets,  some  of  them  flocking 
to  the  residences  of  their  favorite  cardinals,  the  greater  number  re- 
maining around  the  Quirinal  palace  to  scan  the  features  and  discuss 
the  merits  and  chances  of  each  of  the  electors  as  he  passed  into  the 
conclave.  The  great  mass  of  the  peoj)le  hoped  that  either  Micara  or 
Gizzi  should  be  the  choice  of  the  college,  and  were  loud  in  their  ac- 
clamations in  their  favor.  They  had  resolved  to  give  their  favorites 
an  ovation  as  they  rode  through  the  streets,  and  were  equally  bent  on 
manifesting  their  hatred  of  Lambruschini  and  the  extreme  Conser- 
vatives. Lambruschini,  however,  was  not  the  man  to  quail  before 
a mob,  and  was  preparing  to  leave  his  residence  when  Micara,  in 
disguise,  and  wishing  to  avoid  any  demonstration  in  his  own  favor, 
asked  his  political  opponent  to  give  him  a place  in  his  carriage. 
What  follows  is  related  on  the  authority  of  Legge. 

As  they  drove  together  to  the  Quirinal,  he  (Micara)  is  said  thus 
to  have  addressed  his  companion  : ^If  the  powers  of  darkness  preside 
over  the  election,  you  will  be  Pope  ; if  the  people  had  a voice.  I’m  the 
man  ; but  if  Heaven  have  a finger  in  the  business,  it  will  be  Ferretti.’” 

It  seems  well  ascertained  that  Micara  combated  strenuously  the 
motion  of  Lambruschini  asking  to  postpone  all  action  till  the  arrival 
of  the  foreign  cardinals.  This  led  materially  to  the  subsequent 
choice.  Another  motive  which  helped  to  concentrate  the  votes  of 
the  majority  on  the  Archbishop  of  Imola,  was  the  sudden  resolve  not 
only  to  exclude  all  not  Eomans,  but  all  who  were  members  of  a 
religious  order. 

Both  before  the  opening  of  the  conclave,  and  during  the  first  day, 
the  people  outside  do  not  appear  to  have  thought  of  Cardinal  Mastai 
as  a likely  candidate.  He  had  been  but  very  little  at  Kome  during 
the  last  nineteen  years,  and  it  takes  less  time  than  that  to  put  even 
the  most  popular  man  out  of  people’s  minds  in  a large  city.  Within 
the  conclave  the  man  who  first  openly  declared  in  favor  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Imola  was  Cardinal  Altieri,  one  of  the  most  influential 
of  the  moderate  Liberals.  Mastai  had  been  appointed  one  of  the 


78 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


three  tellers.  There  were  altogether  four  different  ballots.  In  the 
Grst  Lambruschini  received  fifteen  votes,  Della  Gcnga  and  ^lattei 
seventeen  between  them,  Mastai  thirteen,  Mai  six,  and  Gizzi  two. 
This  was  early  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  June  ; in  the  evening 
took  place  the  second  ballot,  when  Masta’i  obtained  seventeen  votes 
and  Lambruschini  only  thirteen.  As  a two-thirds  vote  was  requisite 
to  a valid  election,  the  third  ballot  was  held  after  Mass  on  the  16th, 
Lambruschini  this  time  only  polling  eleven  votes  and  his  opponent 
twenty-seven  ! These  figures  were  ominous. 

Cardinal  Mastai  was  greatly  agitated  by  the  result  of  the  two 
first  ballots,  and  spent  the  night  in  prayer,  conscious  of  his  own  weak- 
ness, and  fearful  of  the  terrible  burden  he  was  threatened  with.  It 
was  with  deep  emotion,  therefore,  that  on  the  morning  of  the  16th 
he  resumed  his  task  of  teller,  and  that  emotion  almost  ovcrvLelmed 
him  when  the  votes  were  counted.  It  now  appeared  certain  that  he 
would  be  the  choice  of  the  Electoral  College. 

If  there  was  no  little  subdued  excitement  within  the  walls  of  the 
conclave,  there  was  uncontrollable  agitation  outside.  News  had 
reached  Eome  of  risings”  in  several  places  in  the  pontifical  terri- 
tories, and  of  the  advance  of  the  Austrians  to  restore  order.  At  the 
very  hour  of  the  opening  of  the  conclave,  and  while  the  cardinals 
were  kneeling  before  the  altar  of  the  Pauline  chapel  and  chanting 
together  the  sublime  hymn  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  Veni,  Creator  Sjnri- 
tus  / the  Austrian  artillery  and  cavalry  were  pouring  into  Mastaf  s 
native  province,  and  an  Austrian  fleet  was  casting  anchor  in  the 
port  of  Ancona ! The  fierce  wrath  of  the  Eoman  multitude  was 
rising  hourly  to  such  a pitch  that  it  would  seem  nothing  could  long 
restrain  it  from  overleaping  all  bounds  and  sweeping  everything  be- 
fore it,  conclave,  electors,  pontifical  throne  and  papal  sovereignty. 
It  was,  in  the  moral  world,  not  a little  like  the  awful  spectacle  offered 
by  the  inflow  of  the  tide  along  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Eundy. 
The  tidal  waves  rush  on  with  such  a sudden  and  fearful  velocity  that 
the  very  animals  on  the  beach,  as  the  earth  and  air  give  them  notice 
of  the  distant  thunderous  sound,  fly  terror-stricken  to  the  shore, 
their  utmost  speed  often  proving  unavailing  to  save  them  from  the 
swift  waters  behind. 

On  the  evening. of  June  16th  that  living  tide  of  Eoman  passion 
roared  and  seethed  around  the  walls  of  the  Quirinal,  while  the  pro- 
cessional crosses  and  banners  of  the  various  deputations  from  the 
parish  churches  were  borne  hither  and  thither  on  the  surge. 


Emotion  of  the  Pope-ElecL 


79 


At  eacli  unsuccessful  ballot  tbe  papers  were  burned,  and  tbe  blue 
smoke  escaped  from  a flue  at  a well-known  spot ; it  appeared  at  a 
regular  hour  morning  and  evening,  each  time  informing  tbe  expect- 
ant crowd  that  there  was  no  election.  On  that  never-to-be-forgotten 
evening  of  June  16th  every  eye  in  the  dense  multitude  watched  for 
the  appearance  of  the  bluish  column  of  smoke  as  the  critical  hour 
drew  nigh.  The  hour  passed,  and  the  hateful  sign  appeared  not. 
People  began  to  breath  more  freely,  and  waited  in  painful  stillness 
and  with  unaverted  gaze.  At  length,  becoming  satisfled  that  some 
decision  had  been  arrived  at,  they  sent  up  a mighty  shout,  half 
of  joy,  half  of  impatience.  They  will  wait  now  without  further 
violence.  Let  us  see  what  had  happened  in  the  conclave. 

The  hour  for  the  fourth  ballot  had  arrived,  the  votes  were  depos- 
ited with  the  usual  formalities  in  a golden  chalice  on  the  altar,  and 
in  presence  of  the  scrutators.  It  was  Cardinal  Masta'f s duty  to  read 
each  vote  aloud  after  it  had  been  examined  and  certifled  by  his  two 
colleagues.  As  he  jead,  and  read  on,  his  own  name  came  up  almost 
continuously,  reaching  the  former  number  of  twenty-seven,  and  vote 
after  vote  bearing  his  name  till  the  number  thirty-seven  (some  say 
forty ‘two)  told  the  august  assemblage  that  their  work  was  done. 
Then  the  whole  college  rose  in  a body  and  made  the  election  unani- 
mous. 

It  is  no  friendly  hand  that  recorded  Mastai’s  attitude  at  that  try- 
ing moment : ^^His  voice  faltered,’’  says  Castelar,  ‘‘and  his  strength 
failed  as  he  discovered  the  result  of  the  final  vote.  Tears  fell  from 
his  eyes.  Conscious  of  his  constitutional  weakness,  he  gave  up  the 
examination  to  another  cardinal,  and  retiring  to  a place  apart, 
covered  his  face  with  both  hands.” 

Castelar  goes  on  to  say  that  when  pressed  to  accept  the  election, 
and  while  the  multitude  were  waiting  outside  with  such  impatience. 
Cardinal  Mastai,  recovering  his  self-possession  and  summoning  all  his 
strength,  turned  toward  the  expectant  electors  and  besought  each  of 
them  in  succession,  “begged,  prayed,  and  insisted  that  they  should 
remove  that  cup  from  his  lips.”  But  they  did  not  dare,  amid  the 
exceptional  circumstances  of  the  times,  to  reverse  their  decision. 

This  renders  intelligible  what  is  stated  about  his  final  acceptation. 
“There  are  others  more  worthy  than  I am  for  the  high  oflice  to 
which  your  Sacred  College  has  called  me ; but  as  I have  been  long 
accustomed  in  Christ’s  service  to  yield  up  my  own  will,  so  now  I 
accept  that  of  God.” 


So 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  JX, 


He  tlien  knelt  before  tlie  altar,  pouring  forth  his  soul  in  prayer 
before  the  hidden  God,  who  would  not  take  away  from  him  the  bit- 
ter cup  and  the  heavy  cross.  Ilad  he  only  had  a most  faint  concep- 
tion of  all  the  accumulated  and  mingled  bitterness  of  that  cup,  and 
of  the  long,  weary  road  over  which  he  should  have  to  bear  his  cross, 
it  may  be  doubted  if  ever  he  had  risen  a living  man  from  that 
presence. 

Pius  IX.  ! CRUX  DE  CRUCE  ! Whoever  penned,  ages  before 
thy  birth,  such  prophetic  title  for  thy  length  of  years  and  suffering, 
must  have  had  more  than  mortal  knowledge  ! What  was  the  agony 
of  Peter’s  brief  martyrdom  compared  with  thine  ? So,  when  thou, 
too,  ^^wast  younger,  thou  didst  gird  thyself,  and  didst  walk  where 
thou  wouldst.”  How  glorious  is  the  race  of  kingly  beneficence  and 
fatherly  love  thou  art  planning  for  thy  country  and  thy  people 
even  now,  even  there  at  that  altar,  where  the  heart  of  the  Crucified 
speaks  to  thine  I ‘^But  when  thou  shalt  be  old,  thou  shalt  stretch 
forth  thy  hands,  and  another  shall  gird  thee,  and  lead  thee  whither 
ihou  wouldst  not.” 

If  thou  didst  know  all  that  ere  thou  saidst,  ‘‘1  accept  the  wiU 
of  God,”  then  the  world  should  proclaim  thee  the  most  heroic  of 
Peter’s  long  line  of  successors. 


CHAPTER  Vin. 


How  THE  Ahhouhcemeht  was  keceiyed — Momehtaby  Disap- 

POIHTMEJ^T  OF  THE  LiBEEALS — FeABS — WbATH  OF  THE  AUS- 
TBIAIY  AmBASSADOE — HeSITAHCY  ABOUT  APPOIHTIHQ  AH  Ad- 
MIHISTBATIOH — PlAHS  LAID  BY  MazZIHI  TO  FEUSTBATE  ALL 
THE  IhTEHTIOHS  OF  PlUS  IX. 


June  and  July,  1846. 


OME  knew  not  repose  during  the  night  that  intervened  between 


-L  \)  the  acceptance  of  the  sovereign  pontificate  by  the  Cardinal- 
Archbishop  of  Imola,  and  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  June,  when  the 
population  from  far  and  near  streamed  up  toward  Monte  Cavallo  and 
surrounded  the  Quirinal.  Exciting  rumors,  half-pacific  and  mostly 
warlike,  had  been  in  this  weary  interval  fiying  about  the  seven 
hills  of  Rome,  borne  from  the  distant  Adriatic,  the  Marches,  the 
Romagna  and  Umbria,  and  increasing  to  fever-heat  the  anxiety  of 
all  classes  to  learn  with  certainty  who  was 'elected,  and  what  charm 
his  name  might  have  to  lay  the  storm  that  hung  dark  and  porten- 
tous over  the  land,  or  to  cause  it  to  burst  upon  Italy  with  irresistible 


fury. 


Whiteside  Italy  in  the  Nineteenth  Century”),  who  was  present 
in  Rome,  thus  describes  what  ensued  on  that  morning:  ^‘The  sky 
was  most  beautiful,  the  piazza  crowded  with  people,  the  troops 
drawn  up  in  array,  and  all  with  their  faces  turned  toward  the  bal- 
cony. At  nine  were  heard  the  blows  of  hammers  breaking  down  a 
window  that  is  ordinarily  built  up.  Shortly  after,  the  Cardinal 
Camerlengo  (high  chamberlain)  appeared,  with  the  bearer  of  the 
crucifix,  and  announced  to  the  people  the  exaltation  to  the  papacy 
of  the  cardinal,  who  took  the  name  of  Pius  IX.  The  populace 
shouted  with  joy.” 

Nevertheless  as  the  tidings  fiew  all  over  Rome,  and  from  Rome  to 
the  extremities  of  Italy,  we  must  not  picture  to  ourselves  the  joy  as 
by  any  means  universal  at  first,  or  the  enthusiasm  as  very  great. 
The  man  thus  raised  to  the  papal  throne  was  not  the  man  whose 


81 


82 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


name  was  on  the  lips  and  in  the  hearts  of  the  Liberals ; that  man 
was  Cardinal  Gizzi — for  they  did  not  dare  to  hope  for  the  election  of 
Cardinal  Micara.  Indeed,  the  popular  hope  at  one  time  during  the 
conclave  assumed  the  form  of  reality,  the  report  having  got  abroad 
that  Gizzi  had  the  largest  number  of  votes,  and  the  news  was  trans- 
mitted by  courier  to  Ceccano,  his  native  place,  creating  unbounded 
enthusiasm  as  it  spread.  The  liberal  party  were  congratulating 
themselves  on  this  great  triumph  when  the  official  tidings  came  to 
damp  their  joy.  As  the  personal  character  of  the  new  Pope  and  his 
antecedents  came  to  be  canvassed,  the  hopes  of  the  party  revived. 

Meanwhile  Pius  IX.,  ever  faithful  to  his  pure  and  exalted  family 
affections,  had  not  retired  to  his  brief  rest  on  the  night  of  the  elec- 
tion before  writing  with  his  own  hand,  and  dispatching  by  special 
messenger  the  following  letter,  which,  he  trusted,  would  restore  con- 
fidence not  only  in  Sinigaglia,  but  in  threatened  Ancona  and  all 
along  the  Marches. 

Rome,  June  16,  at  three-quarters  past  11  p.m. 

Dear  Brothers  Gabriel,  Joseph,  akd  Gaietai^o  : — The 
blessed  God,  who  lowers  and  lifts  up  according  to  his  divine  will 
and  pleasure,  has  been  pleased  to  raise  me,  his  humble  creature,  to 
the  most  sublime  dignity  of  this  world.  May  his  holy  will  be  ever 
done  ! I am  fully  conscious  of  the  high  and  weighty  responsibility 
attached  to  my  charge,  and  I feel  my  great  inability  to  fill  it  prop- 
erly. Have  prayers  said  for  me,  therefore,  dear  brothers,  and  pray 
for  me  yourselves.  The  conclave  lasted  only  forty-eight  hours. 
Should  the  municipality  of  Sinigaglia  wish  to  celebrate  this  event,  I 
request  you  will  take  measures — indeed  I desire  it — to  have  the 
whole  expense  made  profitable  to  the  people,  the  chief  magistrate 
and  the  council  regulating  everything.  With  regard  to  you,  dear 
brothers,  I press  you  to  my  heart  in  Christ  Jesus,  and,  far  from 
exulting  at  my  elevation,  take  pity  on  your  brother,  who  now  gives 
vou  all  his  apostolic  benediction. 

Pius  PP.  IX.” 

One  whose  name,  learning,  sweet  suffering  features,  and  angelic 
virtues  are  not  yet  forgotten  by  his  pupils  at  St.  Joseph’s  Seminary, 
Fordham — the  Eev.  Father  Tomei — a townsman  and  schoolmate  of 
Giovanni  Mastai,  related  to  the  author  the  impression  made  on  one 
of  the  Pope’s  sisters  by  the  announcement  of  her  brother’s  election. 
She  knew,  with  a woman’s  insight  into  character  and  its  influence 


Fears. 


83 


in  shaping  events,  how  generous,  how  lavish  of  self,  how  trustful  of 
others,  how  difiSdent  of  his  own  light  and  strength,  was  the  man 
thus  suddenly  placed  in  a post  of  the  most  awful  responsibility  and 
at  a time  when  he  alone  before  whom  the  storm  quailed  on  the  lake 
of  Galilee  could  bid  the  winds  of  Italian  passion  ‘^be  still ! ” Fall- 
ing on  her  knees,  utterly  overcome  and  terrified,  she  could  only 
repeat  with  streaming  eyes  and  clasped  hands  : Oh  ! what  a mis- 
fortune ! what  a misfortune  ! 

Mixing  with  the  world  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  aspi- 
rations of  her  countrymen,  with  the  plans  and  designs  of  those 
whom  no  concession  short  of  a radical  revolution  in  the  State  and 
the  annihilation  of  the  Church  could  satisfy,  the  lady  of  the  world 
knew  what  her  brother’s  great  soul  would  lead  him  to  promise  and 
undertake,  and  she  knew,  with  the  infallible  prescience  of  a woman’s 
heart,  that  all  would  be  vain  ! 

We  have  read  of  savages  amid  the  trackless  wilderness  putting 
their  ear  to  the  ground  and  gathering,  with  a delicacy  and  sureness 
of  sense  that  would  seem  preternatural,  sounds  and  warnings  imper- 
ceptible to  the  ear  or  eye  of  their  civilized  companions.  They  could 
thus  tell  of  enemies  approaching,  though  the  telescope  in  vain  scan- 
ned every  point  of  the  horizon  in  search  of  them,  and  they  could 
almost  count  their  numbers.  Is  not  woman  endowed  by  nature  with 
some  such  prophetic  sense  as  this  ? We,  men,  have  our  eyes  filled 
with  dazzling  visions  of  ambition  or  gain,  and  our  ears  are  ever 
strained  to  catch  only  the  loud  tumult  of  political  battle.  But  wo- 
man, seated  lowly  in  the  quiet  of  her  home,  can  gather  with  undi- 
vided senses  all  the  echoes  borne  on  the  air,  and  all  the  tremors  of  the 
earth,  before  the  volcano  is  awakened. 

Over  what  is  of  a mere  personal  nature  or  of  comparatively  little 
importance  we  must  hasten  henceforth,  so  mighty  are  the  events 
which  fill  up  this  pontificate,  the  most  memorable  in  the  history  of 
the  papacy,  and  connect  for  ever  the  life  of  Pius  IX.  with  the  latter 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  ! 

The  Pope  needed  no  friend  or  foe  or  counselor  to  warn  him  of  the 
imperative  and  instant  exigencies  of  the  political  position  ; what  he 
had  seen  in  the  Romagna,  before  he  quitted  the  sweet  solitude  of 
Piratello,  all  that  he  had  seen  and  heard  along  his  route  through 
the  Marches  and  Umbria,  had  no  significance  that  he  had  not  read. 
The  very  stones  in  Rome  would  have  cried  out  to  him,  as  he  received 
with  the  first  homage  of  his  subjects  and  the  first  congratulations  of 


84 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX, 


the  Catholic  world,  the  tidings  of  Austrian  invasion  and  Mazzinian 
outrages,  had  he  been  deaf  or  blind  or  dumb  in  his  new  place  of 
power. 

Ere  he  had  been  solemnly  crowned  at  St.  Peter’s  and  taken  posses- 
sion of  St.  John  Lateran — ^^the  mother  and  head  of  all  the  churches 
of  Eome  and  the  world  ” — the  special  Austrian  envoy  and  his  car- 
dinals had  arrived.  The  representative  of  the  apostolic”  emperor 
made  no  secret  of  his  disgust  nor  of  the  probable  consequences  of  his 
master’s  just  resentment,  all  the  more  so  that  he  saw  the  French  am- 
bassador in  high  favor  at  the  new  papal  court,  and  had  more  than 
one  evidence,  both  in  the  changes  already  made  and  in  those  wEich 
were  confidently  announced,  of  French  influence  suddenly  overtop- 
ping his  own. 

The  very  things  which  the  Pope  had  not  done  in  beginning  his 
reign,  as  well  as  the  acts  already  accomplished,  boded,  so  thought 
Count  de  Broglia,  a revolution  in  the  policy  of  the  papacy,  a total 
' subversion  of  its  temporal  powder,  and  most  certainly  insurrection  in 
the  Austrian  provinces.  There  lacked  not  those  in  high  dignity 
and  of  long  experience  in  the  management  of  public  affairs,  w^hose 
resentment  at  the  threatened  policy  of  the  new  government  Avas 
scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  the  Austrian,  and  Avhose  evil  forebodings 
were  uttered  with  a voice  almost  as  bold. 

We  have  said  government,”  for  Pius  had  deviated  at  the  very  first 
from  the  invariable  custom  of  appointing  a new  Secretary  of  State 
as  the  head  of  the  pontifical  administration.  The  Liberals  through- 
out Italy  were  unanimous  in  expressing  the  hope  that  Cardinal  Gizzi 
would  be  appointed  by  a liberal  Pope  to  fill  the  all-important  position 
left  vacant  by  the  dreaded  Lambruschini.  This  nomination  would 
haA'e  gone  far  toward  removing  the  feeling  of  disappointment  at  not 
seeing  their  favorite  cardinal  in  the  papal  chair ; the  delay  wdiich 
ensued  caused  no  little  agitation  and  increased  the  painful  uncer- 
tainties that  overhung  the  more  distant  parts  of  the  Eoman  States. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Pope  wished  to  appoint  Cardinal  Gizzi  to 
this  high  office,  and  that  his  hesitation  to  do  so  at  once  came  from 
the  almost  threatening  attitude  of  the  Austrian  representatiA^e  and 
the  outspoken  disapproval  of  the  ConserA^atiA^e  cardinals. 

It  is  said  that  Pius  IX.,  with  that  frank  and  distrustful  simplicity 
which  is  a feature  in  his  character,  asked  of  the  cardinals  to  select  for 
him,  before  they  left  Eome,  a ministry  in  every  Av^ay  fitted  to  the  neces- 
sities of  the  times.  Whether  or  not  the  Sacred  College  A\'as  consulted 


Hesitancy  about  Appointing  an  Admmistration.  85 


to  this  effect,  we  have  no  present  means  of  ascertaining.  After  a 
few  days  of  damaging  suspense,  it  was  announced  that  the  Pope, 
while  maturing  some  great  administrative  reforms,  had  resolved  to 
carry  on  the  government  by  a commission  of  six  cardinals,  three  of 
whom  were  most  odious  to  all  grades  of  Liberals.  These  were  Car- 
dinals Lambruschini,  the  most  dreaded  name  of  all,  Bernetti,  the 
protector  of  the  J esuits,  and  Monsignor  Marini,  governor  of  Eome. 

To  be  sure,  the  other  three  members  of  the  commission  were  known 
for  their  liberal  sentiments  and  professed  patriotism,  and  foremost 
among  them  was  Gizzi.  Nothing  could  persuade  what  began  to  be 
ominously  called  ^‘the  people,”  that  this  new  administrative  scheme 
was  not  a first  triumph  of  Austrian  influence. 

There  is  no  evidence  of  his  having  consulted  Count  Kossi  on  this 
first  fatal  step  in  his  career.  Besides  Eossi’s  was  not  the  temper  to 
desire  a compromise  or  -half-measure  so  full  of  hesitancy,  so  indica- 
tive of  an  uncertain  policy  in  the  first  stage  of  the  Pope’s  reign, 
and  when  Italy  and  Christendom  were  watching  with  bated  breath 
the  first  words  or  acts  that  should  portend  the  pregnant  future. 

We  shall  see  presently  how  the  ambassador  of  France  was  very 
soon  afterward  taken  into  the  confidence  Pius  IX.,  and  what  was  the 
policy  agreed  upon  between  them.  But  while  the  telegraph  wires 
were  flashing  over  the  European  continent  the  name  of  the  • npw 
Pope,  and  bearing  back  to  him  the  congratulations  of  the  various 
governments,  it  is  important  that  we  should  see  how  one  man, 
enjoying  the  hospitality  both  of  England  and  France,  and  high  in 
the  esteem  of  their  statesmen,  was  preparing  at  Paris  the  detailed 
plan  of  an  agitation  destined  to  thwart  step  by  step  every  reform  be- 
gun by  Pius  IX.,  to  frustrate  his  best  intentions  and  most  cherished 
designs  for  the  good  of  his  subjects.  This  will  enable  us  to  under- 
stand how,  from  the  first  days  of  his  pontificate,  a mysterious  and 
hidden  power,  forming  the  very  soul  of  all  popular  movements  in 
Italy,  was  present  in  Eome  itself,  and  on  every  point  of  Italian  terri- 
tory, so  shaping,  directing,  and  controlling  the  popular  aspirations 
and  energies  that  the  love  of  the  Pope  for  his  people  and  his  coun- 
try was  condemned  to  a fruitless,  fatal,  and  inevitable  ending. 

No  sooner  had  Mazzini  heard  of  the  triumph  of  French  influence 
in  the  conclave  and  the  election  of  a Pope  who  promised  to  inaugu- 
rate a policy  of  reform  and  conciliation  than  he  set  to  work  through 
his  trusty  and  numerous  agents  among  Young  Italy  ” and  the  Car- 
bonari to  carry  out  the  system  of  agitation  more  clearly  and  boldly 


86 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


expressed  in  liis  “Address  to  the  Friends  of  Italy,”  pnblished  i7i 
Paris  three  months  later,  and  when  the  first  essays  of  his  subordi- 
nates had  been  crowned  with  complete  success  in  Eome  and  else- 
where. 

“In  great  countries,”  says  the  arch-conspirator,  “it  is  by  the  peo- 
ple that  we  must  struggle  for  regeneration  ; in  yours  (Italy),  it  is  by 
the  sovereigns.  We  must  absolutely  put  them  on  our  side.  It  is 
an  easy  matter.  The  Pope  will  proceed  to  reform  on  principle 
and  through  sheer  necessity ; the  King  of  Piedmont  through  the 
vision  of  the  crown  of  Italy ; the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  through 
inclination  and  resentment ; and  the  King  of  Naples  through  com- 
pulsion ; as  to  the  petty  princes,  they  shall  have  something  else 
beside  reform  to  think  of. 

“The  people,  still  held  in  bondage,  can  only  express  its  wants  in 
song.  Profit  by  the  least  concession  to  assemble  the  masses,  were  it 
only  to  make  a show  of  gratitude.  Festivals,  songs,  meetings, 
numerous  relations  established  between  men  of  all  opinions,  enable 
ideas  to  find  a vent,  to  give  the  people  an  idea  of  their  might,  and 
to  render  it  exacting.  . . . 

“A  great  lord  may  be  held  back  by  his  material  interests,  hut  he 
may  be  led  by  his  vanity.  Let  him  have  the  lead  so  long  as  he  will 
go  Avith  you.  There  are  few  who  would  go  to  the  end. 

“The  one  thing  essential  is  that  they  be  kept  ignorant  of  the 
goal  to  which  the  great  revolution  tends,  let  us  prevent  them  from 
ever  seeing  beyond  the  first  stage. 

“In  Italy  the  clergy  are  rich  both  in  the  money  and  in  the  confi- 
dence of  the  people.  You  must  know  how  to  make  use  of  them  in 
both  respects,  and  turn  their  influence  to  good  account.  If  you 
could  create  a Savonarola  in  every  capital  we  should  make  giant 
strides.  . . . 

“ Do  not  attack  the  clergy  neither  in  their  fortunes  nor  in  their 
orthodoxy.  Promise  them  liberty  and  they  Avill  march  in  your 
ranks.  ...  In  Italy  the  people  is  yet  to  be  created,  but  it  is 
ready  to  tear  asunder  the  envelope  which  holds  it.  Speak  often, 
everywhere  and  at  length,  of  its  misery  and  wants.  . . . 

“Accept  all  the  help  which  is  offered  you.  Whoever  makes  one 
step  forward  must  he  yours  till  he  quits  you.  A king  grants  a more 
liberal  law — applaud  him,  and  ask  for  the  law  which  must  follow. 
A minister  shows  a disposition  toward  progress — ^give  him  out  as  a 
model.  . . • 


MazzinVs  Scheme  of  Agitation, 


87 


“Try  to  make  equality  penetrate  the  Cliurcli,  and  everything 
shall  succeed  with  us.  Clerical  power  is  personified  in  the  Jesuits. 
The  odium  attached  to  that  name  is  of  itself  a power  in  the  hand 
of  the  Socialists.  Make  use  of  it ! . . . 

“Associate!  Associate!  everything  is  in  that  word.  The  secret 
societies  give  irresistible  strength  to  the  party  that  call  upon  them. 
Do  not  fear  to  see  them  split ; the  more  there  is  of  them  the 
better.  . . . 

“When  a great  number  of  associates,  receiving  the  password  with 
the  command  to  spread  an  idea  and  make  it  public  opinion,  shall  be 
able  to  concert  a movement,  they  will  find  the  old  social  edifice  laid 
open  on  every  side,  and  tumbling  down,  as  if  by  miracle,  at  the  first 
breath  of  Progress. 

“ They  will  be  astonished  themselves  to  see  fiying  before  the  sin- 
gle might  of  opinion,  kings,  lords,  the  rich,  the  priests,  who  formed 
the  shell  of  the  old  social  structure.  Courage,  then,  and  persever- 
ance ! ” 

Whatever  censure  we  may  pronounce  on  this  man’s  most  detestable 
principles,  aims,  and  acts,  there  can  be  in  the  minds  of  all  who  have 
read  his  writings  and  studied  his  influence  on  European  opinion,  but 
one  judgment  as  to  his  transcendent  ability. 

Mazzini  has  molded  into  its  present  shape  whatever  there  is  of 
anti-Christian  power  in  modern  society,  and  that  power  now  controls 
what  was  once  Christendom  with  an  influence  that  goes  on  increas- 
ing in  the  frightful  ratio  of  accelerated  motion  in  falling  bodies.  He 
created  not  only  “Young  Italy,”  but  “Young  Switzerland,”  “Young 
Germany,”  “Young  Poland,”  and  “Young  Europe;”  and  in  1847 
he  founded  “The  International  League  of  Peoples,”  all  and  each  of 
them  not  only  leavened  with  the  fell  revolutionary  maxims  faintly 
shadowed  forth  in  the  preceding  extract,  but  animated  as  by  a living 
soul  with  the  hatred  of  Christianity  and  the  avowed  purpose  of  de- 
stroying the  Catholic  Church. 

Whoever  does  not  understand  this  elementary  lesson  in  contempo- 
rary history,  cannot  understand  what  has  happened,  and  is  still  hap- 
pening, in  Italy,  in  Switzerland,  in  Germany,  in  Spain,  in  France, 
and  what  is  about  to  happen  in  England  and  Belgium  as  certainly  as 
the  waters  of  Niagara  shall  not  reascend  to  the  height  from  which 
they  have  fallen. 

We  pray  the  serious-minded  reader,  therefore,  to  peruse  carefully 
the  instructions  issued  by  Mazzini  to  his  confederates  about  to  begin 


88 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX, 


their  counter-campaign  of  revolution,  while  the  unsuspecting  Pope 
is  framing  for  Italy-  and  the  Church  a plan  of  perfect  reconciliation. 
Who  shall  succeed — the  Pope  or  Mazzini  ? 

Of  the  innumerable  acts  of  condescension,  beneficence,  and  clem- 
ency performed  by  Pius  IX.,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  very  many 
were  in  strict  conformity  with  the  examples  set  by  his  immediate 
predecessors;  only  ^^the  sects,”  and  thoir  countless  organs  in  the 
European  press,  followed  faithfully  the  injunction  of  the  arch-con- 
spirator, publishing,  apjfiauding,  celebrating  the  virtues  of  the  new 
ruler  of  the  Eoman  States,  as  if  the  pontiffs  who  had  reigned  before 
him  had  been  like  the  former  Mikados,  mysterious  beings  living  in  a 
semi-religious,  semi-royal  state,  far  away  from  vulgar  eyes,  unap- 
proachable to  their  subjects,  and  inaccessible  to  the  feelings  of  ordi- 
nary humanity. 

Pius  IX.  had  known  personally  the  four  last  Popes,  and  could 
not  well  help  reverencing  their  many  virtues,  and  admiring  in  every 
one  of  them  a superiority  of  learning  that  he  was  ever  the  first  to  say 
he  did  not  himself  possess.  Among  those  who  have  filled  the  chair 
of  Peter  during  the  last  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  Leo  X.  is, 
perhaps,  the  only  one  who  loved  to  surround  himself  in  his  private 
hours  with  the  state  and  refined  elegances  of  royalty.  The  other 
pontiffs,  so  far  as  they  are  known  to  history,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, when  their  official  day  was  ended,  retired  to  apartments  so 
poorly  furnished,  and  to  a table  so  frugal,  that  a second-rate  me- 
chanic amongst  us  would  he  astonished  thereat.  The  most  minute 
details  about  every  hour  of  the  daily  life  of  Pius  VII.  are  now  familiar 
to  the  general  reader ; his  simple  tastes  and  poverty  of  spirit”  were 
not  a mask  worn  before  courtiers  and  laid  aside  when  they  had  with- 
drawn. His  was  the  conscientious  adherence,  so  far  as  he  might,  to 
the  privation  of  all  earthly  riches  and  the  rejection  of  all  earthly 
pleasures,  which  he  had  vowed  as  a Benedictine  monk.  Even 
Erench  infidels  were  touched  by  his  austere  and  consistent  self-de- 
nial. Xo  less  edifying  was  the  magnanimous  poverty  of  Gregory 
XVI.,  who  never  forgot  his  lowly  Camaldolese  cell  in  the  monas- 
tery of  San  Michele  at  Murano,  and  who  would  have  given  worlds 
to  lay  aside  the  tiara  and  bury  himself  among  his  loved  Camaldoli, 
near  Frascati.  Of  his  laborious  life  and  utter  contempt  of  ease  and 
bodily  enjoyment  of  every  kind,  we  have  abundant  proof  in  the 
writings  of  those  who  enjoyed  his  intimaey  and  could  appreciate  his 
learning,  his  piety,  his  ardent  wish  to  benefit  his  people,  his  fearless 


Leo  XIL  as  a Refo7'mer, 


89 


discharge  of  duty,  and  his  desire  to  die  as  his  Master  died,  for- 
saken” and  bereft  of  all  comfort.  As  to  Pius  VIII.,  there  was  hut 
one  opinion  about  his  talents  and  his  worth.  The  court  amid  which 
his  brief  public  life  passed  like  a flash  of  warm  sunshine,  held  him 
to  be  a saint,  not  much  addicted,  therefore,  to  costly  living. 

There  was  another  one,  whose  pontificate  was  all  too  short,  a man 
of  courtly  grace,  rare  business  capacity,  and  saintly  life  as  well ; but 
he  was  both  reformer  and  saint,  as  earnest  in  the  pursuit  of  sanctity 
as  he  was  in  his  determination  to  leave  no  abuse  standing  in  Church 
and  State  that  his  authority  could  suppress.  This  was  Leo  XII.,  who 
selected  tlie  Abbate  Masta'i  for  the  South  American  mission,  and 
recommended  him  to  Cardinal  Consalvi,  and  who  took  such  an  affec- 
tionate pride  in  training  him  and  advancing  him  step  by  step  till  he 
placed  him  in  the  see  of  Spoleto. 

The  reader  who  has  never  read  the  life  of  Leo  XII.  may  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  he  seemed  the  model  chosen  by  Pius  IX.  when 
he  entered  upon  the  perilous  path  of  reform.  But  there  was  this 
difference  in  the  two  men,  that  Pius  was  in  the  full  vigor  of  his 
mature  manhood,  in  the  enjoj^ment  of  robust  health  ; whereas  Leo 
had  to  be  carried  in  a litter  from  his  sick-bed  to  the  conclave,  and 
was  so  wasted  by  disease  when  the  electors  honored  his  exalted  vir- 
tues by  their  choice,  that  he  could  not  forbear  from  remonstrating  : 
^^IVliy  will  you  choose  a skeleton  ?”  he  broke  forth.  And  so  over- 
whelmed was  he  by  the  dread  of  his  responsibility  that  a miracle  was 
performed  to  rescue  him  from  the  jaws  of  death.  It  is  a wonderful 
story,  but  one  attested  by  all  Eome. 

Leo  it  was  who,  while  Bishop  of  Sinigaglia,  in  1818,  called  Mon- 
signori Odescalchi  and  Strambi  to  evangelize  the  poor  of  his  diocese, 
and  would  have  young  Mastai  accompany  them  as  catechist.  During 
their  missionary  tour  he  had  watched  and  admired  the  supernatural 
virtues  of  Strambi,  whose  acts  recalled  the  meinory  of  the  early 
apostles.  When,  soon  after  his  elevation,  his  end  was  nigh,  Leo  be- 
thought him  of  having  his  saintly  friend  near  him  during  the  death 
agony.  Strambi  hastened  to  Rome,  but  only  to  offer  up  on  bended 
knees,  by  the  side  of  the  dying  Pope,  his  own  life  as  a substitute  for 
that  of  the  common  father,  so  needful  to  the  Church  in  these  critical 
times.  The  next  morning  Strambi  slept  sweetly  the  death  of  the 
saints,  and  Leo  that  same  hour  recovered  strength  enough  to  carry 
out  some  of  his  most  magnificent  undertakings  and  to  begin  many 
salutary  reforms. 


90 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Pius  IX.,  young  and  zealous,  had  seen  his  benefactor  at  wort ; and 
now  lie  deemed  himself  called  by  Proyidence  to  continue  his  reforms. 
‘‘On  the  day  after  his  election,  Pius  IX.  had  walked  to  the  Church 
of  St.  John  (Lateran) — his  name  being  John  he  would  thus  honor  his 
patron  saint.  The  sight  of  a Pope  passing  through  the  streets  of 
Rome  on  foot  was  novel  to  the  Romans,  who  pressed  eagerly  about 
him  for  his  benediction.  On  returning  to  the  palace  (Quirinal),  a 
beggar  approached  him  with  a petition,  which  the  Holy  Father 
graciously  received  amid  the  plaudits  of  the  people.  He  dispensed 
alms  in  abundance,  caused  it  to  be  known  that  on  Thursdays  of  each 
week  he  would  receive  audiences,  and  political  inquisitions  were 
stopped.  It  was  an  act  of  wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  new  pontiff  thus 
to  render  himself  accessible  to  all  classes  of  his  subjects.  In  addition 
to  this,  the  odor  of  an  unblemished  reputation  for  piety,  moderation, 
and  wisdom  disarmed  suspicion,  and  invited  confidence  and  hope.” 
—Legge, 

This  last  writer,  like  all  his  school,  not  only  lauds  as  extraordinary 
what  was  a virtue  common  to  every  Pope  worthy  of  his  office,  but  re- 
peats the  atrocious  and  unblushing  slanders  heaped  upon  the  memory 
of  Gregory  XYI.  by  “the  sects”  and  their  adherents  outside  of 
Italy.  To  these  gratuitous  slanders  on  the  noble  dead  no  answer  is 
needed  here.  But  if  any  apology  were  to  be  made  for  the  compara- 
tive seclusion  in  which  Gregory  lived  during  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
it  should  be  found,  not  in  any  dread  of  his  people,  or  in  any  disincli- 
nation to  receive  visitors,  or  grant  audiences  to  his  subjects,  but  in 
a growing  cancerous  disease,  which  the  Pope’s  natural  delicacy  made 
him  fear  would  be  offensive  or  distressing  to  others.  He  saw  to  it, 
however,  that  every  facility  should  be  given  by  his  ministers  to  all 
persons  who  wished  to  apply  to  him  in  person. 

In  truth,  just  as  at  the  beginning  of  the  pontificate  of  Leo  XII., 
the  by-word  “Austrian  Patriarch”  helped,  in  passing  from  mouth  to 
mouth,  to  destroy  in  the  popular  estimation  the  credit  which  that 
sovereign  deserved  for  his  untiring  charity,  his  fatherly  care  of  the 
helpless,  the  homeless,  the  ignorant,  and  the  fallen — for  the  patriotic 
generosity  which  made  him  sacrifice  everything  to  the  comfort  and 
relief  of  his  people  in  great  calamities — for  his  enlightened  statesman- 
ship in  the  religious  and  legislative  reforms  he  completed,  and  his 
noble  independence  in  face  of  the  great  powers  who  attempted  to 
Dully  him— even  so,  and  still  more  so,  was  every  generous  act  of 
Pius  IX.  construed  into  “ something  unprecedented  and  worthy  of 


Noble  Deeds  of  Pius  IX, 


91 


all  praiie,”  by  the  word  of  command  of  the  Mazzinian  leaders.  They 
and  their  dupes,  or  willing  tools  among  European  journalists  and 
writers,  only  did  what  they  were  told.  In  the  present  year  of  grace 
1877,  how  aptly  might  be  applied  to  more  than  one  distinguished 
statesman,  writer,  and  editor,  these  words  of  Junius,  written  a century 
ago:  he  only  the  Punch  of  the  puppet-show,  to  speak  as  he  is 

prompted  by  the  chief  juggler  behind  the  curtain 

There  is  enough  of  what  is  most  praiseworthy  in  the  deeds  and 
utterances  of  Pius  IX.  during  these  first  days  of  his  pontificate  : — to 
exalt  and  admire  him  we  need  not  detract  from  what  is  due  to  some 
of  the  most  venerable  characters  of  this  or  any  other  age. 

One  act  of  his  must  be  recorded  here,  as  well  because  it  is  only  one 
among  many  like  ones  that  helped  to  win  the  Pope  the  enthusiastic 
love  of  the  people,  as  because  it  afiords  an  instance  of  that  slow  and 
often  cruel  justice  of  the  old  Eoman  courts  of  law,  which  amounted 
to  downright  injustice,  and  which  so  sadly  needed  reform. 

In  the  year  1809  Giovanni  Mastai,  while  living  with  his  uncle 
Canon  Mastai  at  Eome,  was  wont  to  busy  himself  in  visiting  the 
hospitals  and  prisons,  bringing  spiritual  comfort  and  pecuniary  aid  to 
the  most  suffering  and  desolate  among  the  inmates.  One  prisoner 
named  Gaetano,  accused  of  some  capital  offense,  enlisted  the  young 
visitor’s  sympathies.  He  had  been  convicted  on  insufficient  or  false 
evidence  and  condemned  to  death.  The  courage  with  which  he  ac  - 
cepted  his  fate,  and  the  magnanimity  he  displayed  in  preparing  for 
it,  moved  Mastai  powerfully,  and  going  forthwith  to  the  proper 
authorities  he  got  the  death  sentence  changed  into  imprisonment 
for  life,  as  the  condemned  man  was  setting  out  for  the  place  of  exe- 
cution. He  had  learned  afterward  from  the  family  of  Gaetano  that 
he  was  still  living  in  solitary  confinement  in  the  castle  of  Sant- 
Angelo.  Ho  sooner  was  Pius  made  sovereign  of  Eome,  than  he  be- 
thought him  of  Gaetano,  and  could  not  rest  till  he  had  seen  him  and 
set  him  at  liberty.  So  dressing  himself  in  a plain  clerical  suit,  with- 
out any  mark  of  his  dignity,  he  went  quietly  to  the  castle,  obtained 
admission,  and  demanded  of  the  turnkey  to  be  directed  to  Gaetano’s 
cell. 

The  poor  prisoner,  crazed  and  maddened  by  twenty-two  years  of 
hopeless  endurance  of  wrong,  repelled  the  intruder  at  first  and  would 
not  listen  to  him.  But  the  other  pronounced  the  name  of  his 
mother,  and  the  word  acted  like  a potent  spell,  opening  every  avenue 
to  that  poor  wounded  heart.  Tell  me  of  my  mother  ! ” he  gasped 


92 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


out : Say  that  she  is  in  heaven,  and  that  I can  go  to  meet  her  to- 
morrow !”  ‘^Xo,  she  is  among  the  living,”  was  the  soothing  reply, 

‘^and  I am  come  to  you  wdth  her  blessing  and  with  hopes  of  free- 
dom.” On  inquiry,  the  visitor  found  that  the  captive  had  again 
and  again,  during  these  twenty-two  years,  wu-itten  to  the  Pope  to  lay 
his  case  before  him.  His  letters  had  been  intercepted ; all  knowl- 
edge of  the  outer  world  had  been  kept  from  him ; nay,  he  had 
heard  nothing  of  the  death  of  Gregory  or  of  the  election  of  his  suc- 
cessor. At  his  dictation  his  kind  visitor  drew  up  a petition  to  Pius 
IX.,  which  had  scarcely  been  concluded  when  the  turnkey  brutally 
interrupted  them,  abusing  the  priest  and  cursing  the  prisoner. 
Going  to  the  governor  of  the  castle,  the  visitor  requested  him  to 
liberate  forthwith  the  prisoner  Gaetano,  declaring  that  he  came  to 
demand  it  in  the  name  of  the  Pope.  The  governor,  annoyed,  be- 
haved as  rudely  as  the  turnkey,  and  demanded  a written  order  from 
the  Pope,  and  was  much  perplexed  to  see  the  other  seat  himself,  and 
draw  up  an  order  directing  that  Gaetano  be  discharged  instantly, 
that  he  be  saluted  with  military  honors  on  leaving  the  castle,  and 
that  the  turnkey  be  dismissed  on  the  spot,  placing  at  the  bottom  of 
the  document  the  signature  Pius  PP.  IX. 

The  bewildered  Gaetano  flew  to  his  home  and  his  mother^s  arms, 
and  then  sought  an  audience  of  the  Pope,  and  after  expressing  his 
heartfelt  gratitude,  begged  to  know  the  name  of  his  generous  visitor. 
Pius,  who  delighted  in  bestowing  such  happiness,  now  asked  him  if 
he  had  forgotten  Giovanni  Masta'i  Ferretti,  his  friend  of  twenty-two 
years  ago.  We  pass  over  the  remaining  incidents  of  this  touching 
interview.  All  Eome,  and  indeed  all  Italy,  soon  heard  this  tale. 
But  they  heard  much  more. 

Every  day  during  the  first  month  of  his  reign  was  marked  by  many 
such  touching  deeds,  not  new  to  the  inhabitants  of  Spoleto,  who  had 
been  the  first  recipients  of  his  episcopal  liberality,  or  to  his  diocesans 
at  Imola,  who  refused  to  be  comforted  for  his  loss.  In  very  truth 
Pius  IX.  was  only  doing  daily  and  hourly  what  had  been  his  wont 
to  do  while  Archbishop  and  Cardinal  Masta'i.  Hor  could  he,  in  the 
beginning,  understand  why  so  much  noise  was  made  about  his  com- 
ings and  goings.  But  there  were  in  the  prisons  of  Eome  and  the 
provinces  many  more  unfortunates  like  Gaetano,  entrapped  in  youth 
into  wild  schemes  and  illegal  acts  by  their  very  love  for  Italy, 
their  hatred  of  Austrian  rule,  and  the  belief  that  the  Popes  were 
only  reigning  by  the  will  of  Austria.  There  were  thousands  of  exiles 


93 


The  Question  of  Amnesty, 

beyond  the  Eoman  States,  and  beyond  the  limits  of  Italy,  condemned 
for  crimes  of  rebellion,  or  treason,  or  blood.  An  amnesty  was 
always  one  of  the  first  acts  that  graced  the  beginning  of  every  reign, 
even  where  the  sovereign  was  only  a temporal  prince.  Such  an  act 
of  mercy  was  still  more  necessary  and  more  graceful  where  the 
sovereign  was  a priest  as  well,  the  great  visible  High  Priest  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

The  question  of  amnesty  became  uppermost  in  men’s  minds  from 
the  morning  of  the  17th  of  June,  when  Pius  IX.  first  showed  him- 
self to  his  subjects,  to  receive  their  warm  greetings  and  to  bless  them 
with  tearful  eyes  and  a heart  overflowing  with  a love  all  fatherly. 
It  was  a formidable  question  in  the  eyes  of  experienced  statesmen, 
if  not  in  the  eyes  of  the  priest  and  pontiff,  who  believed  that  the 
chief  attribute  and  duty  of  his  office  was  mercy.  Gregory  XVI.  had 
granted  an  amnesty  in  1831,  but  the  men  thus  forgiven  and  recalled 
from  exile  had  become  afterward  the  most  ardent  instigators  of  sedi- 
tion, the  bitterest  opponents  of  the  power  that  had  restored  them  to 
liberty  and  home. 

It  is  at  this  juncture  that  Count  Eossi’s  influence  was  felt  in  the 
consultations  of  the  Quirinal.  He  had  been  induced  to  join  Joachim 
Murat  in  1815,  when  that  changeling,  without  military  genius  or 
patriotic  principle,  raised  the  standard  of  revolt  during  ‘^the  Hun- 
dred Days,”  and  marched  against  Eome  to  possess  himself  of  the 
person  of  Pius  VII.  He  had  raised  the  cry  of  “Italian  Nation- 
ality,” in  order  to  attract  the  unwary,  the  young,  the  enthusiastic, 
and  Eossi,  misled,  had  cast  his  lot  with  an  unworthy  and  imbecile 
leader,  and  had  been  exiled  in  consequence.  Who  better  able  to 
plead  the  cause  of  the  political  prisoner  and  exile  than  one  who  had 
expiated  a misguided  love  of  country  by  weary  years  of  poverty,  wan- 
dering, and  longing  unfulfilled  ? He  counseled  amnesty  and  for- 
giveness, as  well  as  large  and  liberal  reforms,  aiming  at  the  gradual 
establishment  of  constitutional  government,  and  his  counsels  pre- 
vailed. Of  the  reforms  we  shall  speak  a little  later,  of  this  memora- 
ble amnesty  we  must  now  give  the  history. 

The  Commission  of  six  cardinals  holds  its  first  formal  session  on  the 
first  day  of  July.  The  Pope,  after  most  serious  and  frequent  consulta- 
tions with  prelates  of  every  shade  of  opinion,  had  drawn  up  a schedule 
of  questions  demanding  the  immediate  attention  of  his  government. 
This  was  submitted  to  the  Commission,  and  embraced  the  question 
of  amnesty  and  its  limitations,  the  limitation  of  the  public  debt,  the 


94 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


expediency  of  retaining  or  discharging  the  Swiss  troops  in  the  ponti- 
fical service,  and  that  of  appointing  one  or  more  secretaries  of  State. 

The  Austrian  ambassador  had  also  been  consulted  on  this  im- 
portant question,  and  suggested  reserves  which,  in  the  Pope’s  judg- 
ment, must  have  shorn  the  act  of  all  its  merciful  and  useful  results ; 
such  was  also  the  advice  of  the  Conservative  members  in  the  Com- 
mission of  Six.  An  answer  to  the  question  of  amnesty  admitted  of  no 
delay.  There  were  few  families  who  had  not  sons,  connections,  or 
friends  deeply  interested  in  the  decision.  And  besides,  the  clubs, 
during  the  past  two  weeks,  had  received  instructions  from  head- 
quarters and  were  exerting  most  industriously  the  various  arts 
of  agitating  the  public  mind  on  a subject  that  came  home  to  so 
many. 

As  an  act  of  grace  and  pardon  is  one  exclusively  personal  to  the 
sovereign,  Pius  IX.  made  it  the  special  subject  of  his  meditations. 
He  had  firmly  resolved  to  grant  an  amnesty ; every  instinct  of  his 
generous  nature  impelled  him  to  make  it  as  wide  as  possible.  There 
was  one  category  of  offenders  whom  he  did  not  intend  that  his  clem- 
ency should  reach  or  could  reform — men  whose  profession  and  posi- 
tion made  them  the  guides  of  others — clergymen  and  civil  or  military 
officials.  These  belonged  to  the  governing  classes  of  society,  which 
should  ever  be  the  exemplary  classes,  and  whose  public  crimes  should 
be  visited  with  exemplary  rigor.  Some  of  the  ecclesiastics  thus  ex- 
cepted became  afterward  his  deadliest  foes — the  most  welcome  aux- 
iliaries of  the  secret  societies  abroad,  and  the  petted  spokesmen  at 
evangelical  meetings  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  But  as  Pius  IX. 
hoped  but  little  from  such  clerical  reprobates,  so  he  feared  them  not. 

The  16th  of  July,  one  month  exactly  after  his  election,  was  the 
day  chosen  for  the  performance  of  this  act,  which  the  sovereign 
pontiff  deemed  to  be  the  discharge  of  a sacred  duty.  How  the 
appearance  of  this  amnesty  thrilled  Rome  and  Italy  shall  be  told 
presently  : let  the  heart  of  Pius  IX.  now  speak  for  itself. 

‘‘Pius  IX,  to  Ids  faithful  subjectSy  health  and  apostolic  benediction, 

^‘During  these  days  when  the  public  rejoicing  on  our  exaltation  to 
the  pontificate  touches  us  to  the  depth  of  our  heart,  we  have  not 
been  able  to  refrain  from  grieving  at  the  thought  of  so  many  fami- 
lies among  our  subjects  debarred  from  sharing  in  the  general  joy 
because  in  their  saddened  homes  they  are  made  to  bear  a portion  of 
the  punishment  incurred  by  some  one  member  of  their  household 
through  offenses  committed  against  social  order  or  the  rights  of  the 


Amnesty  Granted, 


95 


sovereign.  Tlie  eye  of  our  soul  could  not  lielp  looking  with,  pity 
upon  a multitude  of  inexperienced  young  men  lured  by  dazzling 
prospects  into  political  disturbances,  and,  to  our  mind,  to  be  consid- 
ered rather  as  the  victims  of  seduction  than  its  complices.  Where- 
fore, since  that  thought  first  took  possession  of  us,  we  have  been 
considering  whether  we  ought  not  to  stretch  forth  a forgiving  hand 
to  our  erring  children,  and  offer  peace  to  all  who  are  ready  to  give 
proof  of  their  sincere  repentance.  The  love  shown  to  us  by  our  good 
subjects,  and  the  many  evidences  of  veneration  they  have  given  to 
the  Holy  See  in  our  person,  have  convinced  us  that  we  can  pardon 
with  safety.’’ 

The  proclamation  then  enumerates  the  classes  of  persons  to  whom 
the  amnesty  extends,  the  conditions  on  which  they  can  avail  them- 
selves of  it,  and  the  limitations  already  mentioned,  comprising  cleri- 
cal offenders  and  others.  The  pontiff  concludes  in  these  touching 
words : 

‘^We  cherish  the  hope  that  all  who  may  avail  themselves  of  our 
clemency  shall  know  on  every  occasion  how  to  respect  our  rights  and 
our  honor.  We  trust,  moreover,  that  their  hearts,  softened  by  our 
forgiveness,  shall  lay  aside  their  civil  hatreds,  which  are  ever  wont 
to  be  the  cause  or  the  effect  of  political  passions  ; and  that  thus 
shall  be  drawn  closer  those  bonds  of  peace  by  which  God  wills  that 
all  the  children  of  the  common  father  should  be  held  together.  But 
if  our  confidence  should  be  deceived  in  this,  we  should  be  constrained, 
with  a bitter  pang,  to  remember,  that  if  clemency  is  the  sweetest 
attribute  of  sovereign  power,  justice  is  also  its  first  duty.” 

Vague  rumors  had  been  agitating  the  public  mind  for  some  days 
previous  to  the  appearance  of  this  document.  But  when  people  on 
awaking  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  found  the  official  proclamation 
posted  up  in  the  usual  public  places,  the  whole  city  became  of  a sud- 
den filled  with  a wild  delirium  of  joy.  Farini,  so  habitually  temper- 
ate in  his  language,  scarcely  finds  expressions  adequate  to  the  occasion. 

^‘When,”  he  says  ‘‘the  tidings  of  this  amnesty  had  flown  all 
over  Eome,  and  its  soothing  language  had  been  read,  it  seemed  as 
though  a ray  of  divine  love  had  unexpectedly  come  down  on  the 
Eternal  City.  The  hosannas  were  endless ; the  ninth  Pius  was 
hailed  as  a deliverer ; each  citizen  embraced  his  neighbor  with 
brotherly  affection ; thousands  of  torches  blazed  forth  at  dark,  and, 
as  if  all  that  is  godlike  in  the  heart  of  man  had,  like  a swollen  river, 
overleaped  its  banks,  the  multitude  rushed  with  one  mighty  impulse 


96 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


toward  the  palace  of  the  pontiff,  called  for  him,  knelt  in  their  ven- 
eration before  him,  and  received  his  benediction  in  reverent  silence. 
No  tongue  is  adequate  to  paint  that  feast  of  soul,  nor  do  I seek  de- 
scriptive language  lest  I should  do  dishonor  to  the  sanctity  of  the 
occasion.  Quick  as  thought  the  news  and  these  solemnities  of  love 
and  gratitude  flew  to  the  farthest  conflnes  of  the  State  ; the  record 
of  them,  which  is  ill  retained  by  the  forgetful  heart  of  man,  was  in 
many  cases  inscribed  on  marble.* 

On  the  27th  the  cardinals  met  in  consistory.  It  was  their  first 
solemn  meeting  since  they  had  assembled  in  conclave. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  citizens  had  been,  meanwhile,  growing 
hourly.  From  the  hall  in  which  the  Sacred  College  awaited  the 
appearance  of  the  sovereign  pontiff,  they  could  hear  the  shouts  of 
joy  resounding  on  every  side,  and  in  the  intervals  between  each  out- 
burst one  might  feel  that  the  very  air  brought  him  the  pulsations  of 
the  heart  of  Rome,  as  it  throbbed  with  the  excitement  of  the  hour. 
The  cardinals  had  never  beheld  anything  similar,  as  their  carriages 
drove  through  the  crowded  streets  and  the  half-frantic  populace. 
More  than  one  ma.n  among  them  trembled  as  he  saw  what  a mighty 
force  had  been  let  loose  around  the  unsteady  throne  of  Pius  IX.,  and 
asked  himself  who  could  stay  the  waterfall  in  mid  air,  or  arrest  the 
lightning  bolt  as  it  darts  from  the  cloud  earthward  ? But  Pius 
himself  was  soon  in  their  midst,  with  sweet  smile  and  stately  pres- 
ence. All  listened  in  respectful  silence  to  the  following  allocution  : 

Vejs'eeable  Brotheks  : As  for  the  first  time  I cast  my  eyes  from 
this  place  on  your  illustrious  body,  and  while  I am  preparing  to  ad- 
dress you,  I cannot  help  experiencing  once  more  that  painful  agita- 
tion of  soul  which  yourselves  witnessed  on  that  day  when  your  too 
kind  suffrages  raised  me  to  the  place  left  vacant  by  Gregory  XVI.  of 
glorious  memory. 

‘‘The  thought  which  beset  me  then  comes  back  now,  that  many 
members  of  this  college^  known  at  home  and  abroad  by  their  supe- 
rior genius  and  wisdom,  by  their  knowledge  of  public  affairs,  and 
their  many  virtues,  were  eminently  fitted  to  appease  the  regret 
caused  by  the  death  of  the  late  pontiff,  and  to  fill  his  place  on  the 
throne. 

“Notwithstanding,  you  have  put  aside  all  the  calculations  of 
human  prudence,  and  thinking  only  of  putting  an  end  to  the  widow- 


* **  History  of  Rome/’  1815-1850,  by  Luigi  Carlo  Farini,  i.  181, 182. 


First  Papal  Allocution, 


97 


hood  of  the  Church,  you  have  united  minds  and  wills,  by  a divine 
inspiration,  I doubt  not,  in  the  one  purpose  of  consoling  and  assist- 
ing the  Church  ; before  the  conclave  had  lasted  two  entire  days,  you 
have  raised  me  to  this  station,  all  unworthy  as  I am,  and  amid  cir- 
cumstances so  pregnant  with  calamity  to  the  civil  and  religious 
world. 

‘‘To  be  sure,  we  know  that  God  sometimes  displays  his  might 
through  the  weakest  of  all  instruments,  in  order  that  the  men  he 
makes  use  of  take  no  credit  for  themselves,  but  attribute  all  the 
honor  and  glory  to  him  ; and  I most  certainly  do  adore  his  inscrut- 
able will  as  manifested  toward  myself,  and  trust  in  his  power  for  the 
aid  I need.  But  while  I am  most  grateful  to  that  almighty  goodness 
which  has  raised  me,  in  spite  of  my  utter  unworthiness,  to  this  great 
dignity,  I must  also  testify  my  gratitude  to  you,  who  have  been  the 
ministers  of  that  will  in  my  regard,  and  who  have  judged  so  favor- 
ably of  one  who  is  conscious  only  of  his  nothingness. 

“It  shall  be  my  deepest  pleasure  ever  to  show  you  all  my  sincere 
affection  by  my  deeds,  allowing  no  opportunity  to  pass  unheeded  of 
maintaining  and  protecting  the  dignity  and  rights  of  your  order,  and 
of  proving  to  you  how  I desire  to  serve  you.  From  you,  I trust  in 
your  attachment  to  aid  me  constantly  with  your  advice,  your  sup- 
port, your  hearty  zeal,  in  order  that  in  this  elevated  rank  my  weak- 
ness cause  no  detriment  to  the  religious  or  worldly  interests  of  the 
commonwealth. 

“We  must  remain  closely  united  if  we  would  labor  effectually  to 
secure  the  welfare  of  the  Church,  our  common  mother,  and  main- 
tain unflinchingly  the  dignity  of  the  Apostolic  See,  and  the  peace 
and  harmony  of  the  Christian  fold  ; thereby,  only,  under  God’s  bless- 
ing, can  they  increase  and  prosper. 

“ Continue,  then,  as  you  have  begun,  to  deserve  well  of  us ; and 
let  us  together  beseech  the  divine  goodness,  that  after  having  been 
chosen  by  him,  we  may  walk  in  his  footsteps ; that  through  the 
intercession  of  Mary  his  mother,  and  of  his  apostles  Peter  and 
Paul,  Jesus,  the  author  of  our  faith  and  apostolate,  may  look  down 
favorably  on  us  from  holy  Sion,  and  accept  these  joyous  trans- 
ports of  a people  devoted  to  his  glory,  thus  giving  a saving  efficacy 
to  all  our  acts  and  labors  in  favor  of  the  Church  committed  to  us, 
and  of  the  people  subject  to  our  rule.” 

There  is  in  this  last  allusion  to  “the  joyous  transports”  of  the 
people,  a something  pathetic,  when  we  look  back  through  the  tragic 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


98 

occurrences  of  thirty-one  years  to  this  yenerable  assemblage  in  the 
Quirinal,  and  the  delirious  multitude  outside,  and  compare  the  17th 
of  July,  1846,  with  the  17th  of  July,  1877. 

Were  any  one  to  doubt  of  the  unanimity  with  which  the  College 
of  Cardinals,  as  well  as  the  Pope,  desired  to  find  the  means  of  ‘^re- 
conciling Italy  with  the  papacy,”  it  will  be  sufficient  to  read  the 
testimony  of  contemporary  Italian  Liberals,  who  bear  witness  to  what 
their  own  senses  had  seen  and  heard.  During  the  two  weeks  which 
had  elapsed  since  the  election  of  Pius  IX.,  the  most  ultra-conserva- 
tive of  the  cardinals  either  had  always  been  in  favor  of  moderate  con- 
cession and  reform,  or  they  had  been  made  to  see  and  acknowledge 
its  necessity.  For  Farini,  then  in  Kome,  and  a close  and  interested 
observer  of  events,  thus  speaks  of  that  portion  of  the  Sacred  College 
— Lambruschini,  Bernetti,  Marini,  and  others  : 

“I  know  for  certain  that  the  object  of  this  section  was  to  proceed 
gradually  and  with  caution.” 

They  feared  the  effect  of  the  large  measure  of  mercy  dealt  out  to 
conspirators  in  the  Act  of  Amnesty ; they  wished  to  limit  its  exten- 
sion at  first  to  a small  number,  and  when  these  had  proved  repentant, 
to  widen  the  circle  of  mercy  still  more,  and  so  on  by  degrees,  till 
forgiveness  secured  good  conduct,  obedience  to  the  laws,  and  cessation 
of  disturbance  in  the  provinces.  A similar  caution  should  regulate, 
they  thought,  ev^ery  administrative  and  legislative  reform. 

Thus  we  may  consider  it  as  unquestionable  that  no  member  of  the 
order  of  cardinals  stood  out  against  concession.  All  agreed  upon  its 
necessity.  We  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter  the  causes  which  ren- 
dered abortive  every  design  of  the  most  liberal  as  well  as  the  most 
conservative  among  the  papal  counselors. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  Ei^thusiasm  continues— Intrigues  and  Plots— Sincere 
Desire  of  the  Pope  to  reform — A divided  Public  Opi- 
nion— Why  Pius  IX.  did  not  play  Sixtus  V. — Alms  in 
THE  Ghetto. 

JUNE-JULT,  1846. 

rT  had  ever  been  a custom  of  the  Romans  at  the  accession  of  a 
Pope  to  wear  his  colors  in  compliment  to  himself  and  his  family. 
This  was  invariably  done  by  officials  and  court  followers,  no  matter 
how  obscure  or  unpopular  the  sovereign-elect  may  have  been.  The 
mass  of  the  people  waited  a little  longer,  till  the  first  acts  of  their 
new  master  gave  them  the  measure  of  his  ability  and  disposition  ; if 
unpopular,  his  colors  were  worn  by  no  one,  if  popular,  all  hastened 
to  wear  them. 

On  the  evening  of  June  16th  the  Mastai'  colors,  white  and  yellow, 
were  prominent  in  every  one  of  the  enthusiastic  gatherings  and  illu- 
minations that  made  Rome  as  brilliant  as  any  fairy  scene,  and  far 
more  joyous.  On  the  17th  the  mercers  of  the  city  could  scarcely 
supply  the  demands  for  silks  and  other  stuffs  of  the  pontifical  white 
and  yellow.  Men  and  women,  young  and  old,  vied  with  each  other 
in  showing  their  attachment  or  their  gratitude.  Painters  and  jewelers 
also  plied  a very  lucrative  trade  for  several  weeks,  so  great  a demand 
was  there  for  papal  portraits  of  every  size.  These  were  soon  to  be  seen 
everywhere,  hung  on  the  outside  of  palaces,  decorating  the  parlors 
of  the  wealthy  and  the  room  of  the  poorest  laborer ; in  the  club- 
houses and  the  theaters,  and  on  the  interior  of  the  public  coaches,  as 
if  the  likeness  of  Pius  IX.  was  a talisman  inviting  good  fortune  and 
protecting  against  evil.  Indeed  the  talisman,”  often  set  in  precious 
stones,  was  conspicuous  on  the  neck  of  noble  Roman  ladies  and  on  the 
breast  of  their  husbands  and  sons,  no  homage  seeming  a sufficient 
sign  of  their  veneration,  and  no  setting  too  worthy  of  the  image  of 
him  whom  all  seemed  to  bear  enshrined  in  their  hearts. 

99 


lOO 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


One  who,  like  Pius  IX.,  was  a native  of  Sinigaglia,  but  who  was 
most  unlike  him  in  all  else — Xicolini — relates  that  on  his  return 
home  from  exile  he  learned  from  his  parents,  as  well  as  from  the 
Count  Mastai,  that  the  palace  in  which  the  Pope  was  born  became  a 
place  of  patriotic  pilgrimage,  to  which  the  restored  exiles  flocked 
not  only  from  the  Marches,  but  from  the  whole  of  the  Komagna.  With 
the  warm  demonstrativeness  of  Italian  hearts,  not  satisfled  with  visit- 
ing piously  every  spot  connected  with  their  benefactor’s  early  history, 
they  bore  away  pieces  of  cement  from  the  walls  and  fragments  from 
the  stones  of  the  house. 

There  is  one  man  at  this  hour  in  high  official  station  in  Italy 
whose  story  deserves  to  find  place  here,  because  it  may  stand  for  that 
of  many  a man  among  those  whom  Pius  IX.  restored  to  home  and 
country,  and  who  requited  him  not  otherwise  than  Giuseppe  Galletti. 

This  man  was  of  good  family,  but  had  become,  at  an  early  age, 
entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  Carbonari  and  of  Young  Italy.” 
As  he  was  nearly  connected  by  blood  with  one  of  the  predecessors  of 
the  reigning  pontiff,  especial  pains  were  taken  to  mitigate  his  lot 
and  to  soothe  his  spirit  when  permitted  to  come  back  to  Eome.  In 
1845  he  had  been  the  soul  of  the  insurrection  in  the  Eomagna,  and  of 
the  dreadful  conspiracy  which  aimed  at  drowning  the  clerical  govern- 
ment in  the  blood  of  every  priest  in  Italy.  On  the  subsequent  trial, 
resulting  in  a sentence  of  death,  commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life, 
instructions  to  his  subordinates  were  brought  in  evidence  against 
him,  and  acknowledged  by  himself  as  authentic,  which  would  put 
the  more  wary  Mazzini  to  the  blush.  Let  us  hear  : 

Our  enemies  are  many : first  of  all,  the  clergy,  the  nobility, 
many  proprietors ; lastly,  persons  holding  employment  under  gov- 
ernment. At  the  cry  of  liberty  shall  be  organized  in  every  city 
revolutionary  committees,  which  shall  seize  on  the  most  suspected 
persons  in  these  classes  whose  liberty  or  survival  might  bring  great 
detriment  to  the  cause. 

As  a rule,  for  the  sentences  pronounced  by  the  committees,  two 
sorts  of  persons  are  to  be  distinguished  : 

1.  Those  who  are  indifferent  to  the  cause,  but  have  been  guilty 
of  no  extreme  acts  against  its  partisans,  and  are  attached  to  govern- 
ment through  love  of  quiet.  As  to  these,  it  must  be  your  endeavor 
to  interest  them. 

^‘2.  Those  who,  employed  under  government  or  not,  have  openly 
shown  themselves  our  enemies,  upsetting  us  in  every  way,  and  these, 


Principles  of  the  Men  thus  Pardoned,  loi 

chiefly,  shall  he  deprived  of  life.  The  manner  of  arrest — without 
violence  and  by  night ; put  in  prison  and  slain. 

You  must  use  in  this  the  greatest  prudence  and  secrecy,  giving 
out  immediately  that  they  are  concealed,  or  exiled,  or  imprisoned 
for  the  time  being.  And  all  that  not  to  excite  tumults  and  awaken 
horror,  as  happened  in  the  Septemberings.  * Their  deaths  to  be 
speedy  and  without  torment.” 

One  may  well  feel  amazement  that  the  clemency  of  Pius  IX. 
should  have  been  extended  to  the  man  who  deliberately  planned  and 
commanded  such  wholesale  assassinations  as  these.  And  the  plan, 
as  was  judicially  proven,  did  not  remain  a dead  letter.  Let  us  now 
see  how  this  same  Galletti  behaved  on  being  pardoned  by  his  kind- 
hearted  sovereign.  We  take  the  narrative  from  Count  Goddes  de 
Liancourt,  as  translated  by  Legge. 

^^When  Galletti  entered  the  presence-chamber  he  threw  himself 
at  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  his  voice  was  suffocated  with  emotion  and 
refused  its  office. 

Pius  IX.  raised  him  up,  and  pressing  him  tenderly  to  his  heart, 
said,  ‘ I am  happier  than  you,  my  dear  son,  the  shepherd  has  found 
the  lost  sheep.  You  will  not  leave  me  again.  You  will  love  me  as 
I love  you.  . . . You  will  henceforth  reject  perfldious  sugges- 

tions, and  recognize  the  danger  of  theories,  no  doubt  generous,  but 
impossible  of  application.  You  promise  me  ? ’ 

^^^I  swear  it,’  cried  Galletti,  ‘by  this  sign  of  our  redemption,’ 
embracing  the  pontifical  cross.  ‘My  mother,’  he  said,  ‘was  the 
sister  of  a Pope  ; I conspired  against  my  uncle  in  the  interest  of  my 
country,  as  I conscientiously  believed.  . . . Now  I love  Pius 

IX.  more  than  I detested  his  predecessor.  ’ ” 

We  have  only  to  wait  a little  and  we  shall  see  how  this  oath  was 
kept,  and  what  fruits  this  new-born  love  for  Pius  IX.  bore  before  a 
second  autumn  had  passed  away.  Beneath  the  ardent  expressions  of 
gratitude  which  flowed  so  readily  from  these  pardoned  conspirators 
and  assassins,  still  lived  “the  principles ” laid  down  cautiously  in 
Mazzini’s  manifesto,  stripped  of  all  reticence  in  Galletti’s  instruc- 
tions, and  leveled  directly  against  Christianity  itself  in  the  follow 
ing  words  of  another  restored  exile,  Ricciardi  : 

“To  acquire  independence  needs  revolution  and  war,  to  put  aside 


* The  massacres  of  prisoners,  bishops,  priests,  and  nobles,  in  Paris,  in  Sep 
tember,  1792. 


102 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


all  considerations  originating  in  the  progress  of  knowledge,  civiliza- 
tion, industry,  increase  of  riches  and  public  prosperity.  . . . 

The  fatal  plant  born  in  Judaea  has  only  reached  this  high  point  of 
growth  and  vigor  because  it  was  watered  with  waves  of  blood. 
Would  you  have  an  error  take  root  among  men  ? put  fire  and  sword 
to  it.  Would  you  have  it  fall  ? make  it  the  subject  of  your  gibes. 
. . . . The  question  is  not  of  a popular  assembly,  fiuctuating, 

uncertain,  slow  to  deliberate  ; there  is  need  of  a hand  of  iron,  which 
alone  can  rule  a people  hitherto  accustomed  to  differences  of  opin- 
ion, and,  what  is  still  more,  a people  corrupted,  enervated,  made 
vile  by  slavery.  . . . Soon  a new  era  will  begin  for  mankind, 

the  glorious  era  of  a redemption  far  different  from  that  announced 
by  Christ” 

What  ‘^the  hand  of  iron”  means  every  reader  acquainted  with 
Italian  contemporaneous  history  cannot  but  know.  Such,  then,  were 
a few  of  the  principles  ” or  practical  rules,  as  dear  as  their  own 
souls  to  every  one  of  these  men,  let  loose  on  the  country  from  the 
prisons  or  recalled  to  it  by  the  Pope’s  gracious  act  of  clemency.  Such 
were  also  the  guiding  principles  of  the  clubs  and  “sects,”  which  had 
been  numerous  till  then  everywhere,  in  spite  of  the  vigilance  of  the 
magistrates,  but  which  now  became  ubiquitous  and  all-powerful. 

Into  the  deep  furrows  which  Mazzini  had  made  in  Italian  soil 
Pius  IX.  had  scattered  broadcast,  instead  of  the  fabled  dragon’s  teeth 
sown  by  Jason,  gracious  acts  of  clemency  and  promises  of  reform ; 
and  lo  ! from  out  the  laboring  earth  and  ever-increasing  din  sprang 
an  armed  multitude  with  their  “ eyes  and  lips  in  a set  smile,  turned 
full  ” on  the  expectant  pontiff.  He  vainly  fancied  that  the  words 
“reform”  and  “ reconciliation ” cast  among  them  would  have  the 
effect  of  Jason’s  magic  ball  on  the  monstrous  “earth-born  ; ” that  it 
would  rid  Italy  for  ever  of  the  presence  of  secret  societies,  by  taking 
away  all  pretext  for  obscure  conspiracies. 

“So  wild  was  the  enthusiasm,”  says  Legge,  “that  the  Pope,  by 
special  edict,  counseled  moderation,  when  it  immediately  abated. 
The  wish  of  the  Holy  Father  was  a command.  Great  preparations 
had  been  made  for  continued  illuminations  and  processions  by  the 
people,  who,  proverbially  lovers  of  pageantry,  were  now  inspired 
with  the  fervor  of  political  excitement  superadded  to  personal  devo- 
tion. But  the  whole  were  abandoned,  and  nothing  seemed  to  afford 
the  Pope  more  gratification  than  this  unanimous  and  cheerful  mani- 
festation of  loyalty.  He  professed  himself  encouraged  thereby  to 


Sincere  Desire  of  the  Pope  to  Reform.  103 

persevere  in  his  great  work  of  reform  in  Church  and  State.  Prob- 
ably he  did  not  fully  estimate  the  difficulties  of  his  position.” 

Louis  Philippe  and  his  prime  minister  Guizot  were  so  gratified 
by  the  Pope’s  sincere  wish  to  grant  all  needful  reforms,  that  the 
Prince  de  Joinville  was  sent  to  Eome  to  compliment  his  Holiness 
and  to  bring  him  cordial  assurance  of  sympathy  and  support  from 
the  French  government.  At  this  very  juncture  the  idea  of  a politi- 
cal league,  binding  together  all  the  Italian  sovereigns,  and  enabling 
Italy  to  act  as  a unit  in  her  relations  with  other  powers,  though 
originating  with  the  Pope,  was  first  openly  advocated  by  Gioberti, 
and  widely  and  warmly  discussed  in  the  press  and  in  the  clubs.  The 
idea,  just  when  the  Pope  was  beginning  in  detail  practical  reforms  in 
all  matters  not  needing  special  legislation,  and  while  he  was  maturing 
still  more  important  changes  in  the  administration  and  judiciary, 
was  most  inopportune  and  calamitous.  It  tended  to  depreciate  in 
popular  estimation  what  he  was  doing,  and  proposed  further  to  do, 
in  order  to  point  the  hopes  of  the  masses  toward  the  fascinating 
vision  of  a united  country. 

In  the  diplomatic  correspondence  published  by  the  French  govern- 
ment, as  well  as  in  Guizot’s  own  last  works,  we  have  authentic  infor- 
mation as  to  what  Pius  IX.  really  aimed  at  during  these  first  months 
of  his  reign.  The  visit  of  the  Prince  de  Joinville,  the  warm  sym- 
pathy of  Louis  Philippe  and  his  minister,  and  the  Pope’s  personal 
liking  for  Count  Eossi,  all  inclined  him  to  place  unreserved  confi- 
dence in  the  latter.  After  indicating  the  abuses  which  must  at  once 
be  corrected,  and  the  steps  by  which  the  people  should  be  trained  to 
constitutional  government,  Pius,  says  Count  Eossi,  continued : “This 
is  what  I can  do,  and  must  accomplish.  A Pope  has  no  business  to 
plunge  into  Utopian  schemes.  Would  you  believe  it,  there  are  peo- 
ple who  speak  of  an  Italian  league  with  the  Pope  at  the  head  of  it  ? 
As  if  such  a thing  were  possible  ! These  are  chimeras.”  “Indeed,” 
I replied  (continues  Eossi),  “your  Holiness  has  other  matters  that 
demand  your  attention  at  present.  You  have  marked  out  the  path 
you  intend  to  pursue,  and  better  results  will  follow  : the  putting  a 
stop  to  abuses,  which  I fear  are  numerous,  and  the  introduction  of 
regularity  and  order,  such,  I think,  is  the  wish  of  your  Holiness.” 
“You  are  right,”  said  the  Pope;  “such  is  my  full  intention.  I 
must,  in  the  first  place,  restore  our  finances  ; but  I want  a little  time 
for  that.”  “Ho  one,”  replied  Count  Eossi,  “expects  from  your 
Holiness  precipitate  measures : the  essential  point  is  to  let  it  be 


104 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


knoTvn  that  they  are  in  active  operation.  The  confidence  of  the  pub- 
lic has  been  gained  ; they  will  wait  with  gratitude  and  respect.”  * 

Meanwhile  the  King  of  Naples,  with  most  of  the  inferior  sovereigns 
of  Italy,  had  taken  alarm  at  the  commotion  produced  throughout  the 
Peninsula  by  the  liberal  measures  and  reforming  tendencies  of  Pius 
IX.  Those  who  were  connected  by  blood  with  the  Lorraine-IIaps- 
burgs,  looked  naturally  to  Vienna  for  support  and  protection.  Judg- 
ing from  the  growing  excitement  of  the  Young  Italy  League,  and 
the  feverish  agitation  which  pervaded  every  city  in  their  respective 
dominions,  they  felt  that  a storm  was  rising  which  it  would  tax  their 
utmost  to  resist.  In  this  conjuncture  a joint  note  was  sent  to  the 
emperor,  calling  his  serious  attention  to  what  was  happening  in  the 
Roman  States.  This  was  toward  the  end  of  J uly. 

On  the  30th  of  that  month  Cardinal  Gizzi  was  appointed  Secretary 
of  State,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Romans  and  to  the  no  small  annoy- 
ance of  the  representatives  of  Austrian  power  or  feeling.  Then  were 
invented  the  odious  terms  of  ‘‘ Gregorians”  and  “ Pians,”  designat- 
ing respectively  the  persons  supposed  or  known  to  he  opposed  to  the 
new  administration,  and  its  avowed  friends.  These  nicknames,  orig- 
inating in  the  clubs,  only  indicated  the  spirit  which  animated  their 
members,  a spirit  that  brooked  neither  opposition  to  its  own  aims, 
nor  even  moderation  in  such  as  promoted  them.  It  drove,  by  its 
diatribes,  more  than  one  generous-minded  influential  person  into  the 
ranks  of  the  ultra-Conservatives.  We  need  not  remind  the  reader 
that  such  a spirit  was  the  worst  enemy  of  Pins  IX.  and  of  Italy. 

No  little  exasperation  was  caused  by  the  almost  simultaneous 
elevation  to  the  cardinalate  of  Monsignor  Marini,  the  unpopular 
governor  of  Rome  under  Gregory,  and  who  continued  to  hold  the 
same  office  under  his  successor. 

Not  far  from  the  spot  on  which  the  glorious  child-martyr  St. 
Agnes  was  protected  from  evil  by  the  intolerable  brightness  of  a 
miraculous  light,  is  the  Piazza  di  Pasquino,  so  called  because  there 
formerly  lived  a tailor  of  that  name,  renowned  and  dreaded  all  over 
Rome  for  his  bitter  wit.  Thither  every  morning  the  lovers  of  scan- 
dal resorted  to  hear  Pasquino  lampoon  every  unpopular  personage, 
from  the  Pope  to  the  muleteer.  His  little  shop  in  course  of  time  was 
occupied  by  a palace,  at  one  corner  of  which  was  placed  on  a pedestal 
the  mutilated  trunk  of  an  ancient  statue,  and  to  this  every  night  the 


* Demurs  Jours  du  regne  de  Louis  Philippe,  Guizot. 


PitLs  IX.  not  Sixtus  V, 


io5 


Roman  wits  were  wont  to  pin  their  lampoons.  So  that  the  statue 
became  popularly  known  as  Pasquino. 

No  sooner  had  the  unpopular  Marini  been  promoted  to  his  high 
dignity  than  Pasquino  suggested  on  the  morrow  that  the  next  best 
candidate  for  the  Roman  purple  was  the  hangman. 

The  pungency  of  the  sarcasm  might  have  left  no  sting  behind  were 
it  not  that  the  most  experienced  and  sagacious  politicians  saw,  in  the 
desire  to  conciliate  the  extremists  of  both  parties,  an  evidence  of 
that  weakness  of  purpose  incapable  of  steadily  pursuing  the  needful 
course  regardless  of  all  contradiction. 

Sixtus  V. — to  whom  many  were  wont  to  compare  Pius  IX. — in 
the  beginning  of  his  pontificate  also  set  out  as  a reformer,  and  in  the 
most  discouraging  circumstances.  But  no  fear  or  favor  could  turn 
him  from  his  way.  He  had  forbidden  carrying  arms  in  Rome,  and 
four  brothers  having  laughed  at  the  prohibition,  and  carried  their 
arquebuses  openly  in  the  streets,  were  hanged  within  the  twenty-four 
hours  in  spite  of  all  the  remonstrance  from  citizens  and  cardinals. 
They  told  him  it  was  an  evil  omen  to  have  a criminal  executed  be- 
fore the  coronation  ceremony  ; but  he  made  the  solemn  processional 
pageant  pass  almost  beneath  the  scaffold  from  which  the  four  bodies 
were  dangling. 

Was  it  possible  to  Pius  IX.  to  carry  things  with  so  high  a hand  as 
Sixtus  V.  ? No,  most  assuredly.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  though  a great  portion  of  Christendom  had  separated  from 
the  Holy  See,  it  could  still  count  on  the  support  of  all  the  Catholic 
powers  in  every  case  where  its  temporal  independence  was  threat- 
ened, or  where  intestine  revolt  rendered  the  administration  of  his 
States  impossible  to  the  common  father.  Par  different  were  the 
circumstances  in  which  Pius  IX.  began  his  pontificate.  The  age 
had  passed  forever  when  a Pope  could  rely  on  the  Christian  sov- 
ereigns for  support  or  encouragement.  France  and  Austria  con- 
tended for  the  protectorate  of  Italy ; and  we  know  that  to  lean  on 
either  was  to  lean  on  a broken  reed. 

Pius  IX.  did  fearlessly  proceed  with  the  reforms  and  improve- 
ments he  had  entered  on  so  conscientiously,  and  which  shall  be  enu- 
merated in  the  next  chapter.  Before  closing  this,  however,  we 
must  offset  the  terrible  justice  of  Sixtus  V.  with  one  act  which 
paints  to  the  life  the  character  of  Pius,  and  speaks  most  eloquently 
of  that  all-embracing  charity  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  to  which  every 
human  being  is  an  object  of  fatherly  care. 


io6 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


As  in  Imola,  so  in  Rome,  Pius  would  go  into  the  streets  simply 
dressed  and  with  few  or  no  attendants,  seeking  the  most  neglected 
portions  of  the  city  for  his  walks  or  his  visits,  and  wishing  to  see 
with  his  own  eyes  where  light  and  air  were  most  needed,  or  souls 
were  most  in  want  of  spiritual  aid.  The  Ghetto,  the  Jews’  quarter, 
had  been  the  scene  of  many  a charitable  excursion  in  his  younger 
days  ; he  knew  of  its  squalor  and  many  pitiful  discomforts,  and  was 
planning  a change.  One  day  a wretched  old  creature  stopped  him 
to  lay  before  him  his  sore  distress.  Perhaps  he  was  one  of  the  many 
vv^ho  yearly  spend  their  little  all  in  making  a pilgrimage  to  Palestine, 
and  after  pouring  out  their  tears,  their  prayers,  their  longings  on  the 
ruins  of  their  once  glorious  temple,  find  their  way  hack  to  die  among 
their  kind  in  some  Christian  land,  where  they  experience  but  little  of 
Christian  charity. 

The  Pope  paused  to  listen  to  the  story  of  his  poor  petitioner, 
and  placed  a large  alms  in  his  hand,  with  loving  words  of  comfort 
that  were  ever  ready.  Thereupon  an  attendant  reminded  his  Holi- 
ness that  the  recipient  of  his  kindness  was  a Jew.  What  does  that 
matter?”  was  the  quick  reproof  ; it  is  a man.”  The  act  and  the 
words  were  not  forgotten.  They  kindled  hope  and  love  in  every 
house  and  every  heart  of  the  Ghetto.  It  was  only  a beginning, 
however.  Ere  a new  year  dawned  that  down-trodden  race  received 
from  their  sovereign  and  father  splendid  proofs  of  a liberality  and 
kindness  which  should  suffice  to  immortalize  a prince  even  in  the 
absence  of  political  genius  and  transcendent  success. 


CHAPTER  X. 


False  Notions  about  the  backwakd  State  of  Italy — To  what 
CAUSES  Decay  and  Stagnation  should  be  Teaced — Steat- 

EGY  OF  THE  RADICALS  : NEVEE  TO  BE  SATISFIED  WITH  ANY 

Concession  of  Pius  IX.— Scientific  Congeess  in  Genoa 

CONVEETED  INTO  A ReVOLUTIONAEY  CONVENTION — CALAMI- 
TIES THAT  AID  THE  MaZZINIAN  AgITATION  : SCAECITY  OF 

Food,  and  Riots — The  Pope  takes  Possession  of  St.  John 
Lateean. 

July-Noyember,  1846. 

Americans  yisiting  Italy  before  tbe  year  1861,  and  passing 
along  tbe  ordinary  highways  of  travel,  were  but  too  apt  to 
draw  unfair  conclusions  from  what  they  saw.  Though  agriculture 
was  far  from  neglected,  and,  in  most  places — as  along  both  slopes  of 
the  Apennines — most  admirable  in  the  ingenuity  displayed  and  in 
the  results  obtained,  still  they  were  apt  to  disparage  the  old-fashioned 
methods  and  implements  in  use.  But  what  struck  these  superficial 
observers  most  was  the  stagnation  that  pervaded  the  cities,  and  the 
decay  that  seemed  to  have  fallen  like  a pall  on  everything  once  mag- 
nificent or  beautiful.  They  were  particularly  shocked  with  the  ap- 
parent absence  of  manufacturing  industry  and  commercial  enterprise. 

/ Their  own  new,  peaceful,  and  prosperous  country,  inviting  emi- 
grants to  its  virgin  soil,  its  thrifty  manufactures,  its  vast  and  ever- 
extending  lines  of  canals  and  railways,  with  every  invention  that 
could  economize  time  and  dispense  with  manual  labor,  was  the  stand- 
ard by  which  civilization  and  prosperity  in  other  lands  were  measured, 
and  Italy’s  backwardness  condemned.  Forgetful  that  nearly  three- 
quarters  of  a century  of  peace,  with  ample  room  for  development 
^ over  an  entire  continent,  had  enabled  the  United  States  to  grow,  to 
spread,  and  to  advance  in  all  the  arts  of  peace,  these  hasty  and  ill- 
informed  critics  forgot  as  well  that  during  all  that  time  Italy — the 
Papal  States  especially — ^had  been  the  battle-field  of  armies,  which 
again  and  again  devastated  the  land  and  robbed  its  inhabitants  of 

107 


io8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


the  hoarded  wealth  of  centuries,  or  had  been  upset  by  intestine 
revolutions  and  systematic  agitations  scarcely  less  fatal  to  thrift, 
industry,  or  enterprise. 

It  had  been  cruel  injustice,  in  1789,  to  hold  Pius  VI.  responsible 
for  the  absence  of  a large  import  trade  in  his  States,  when  his  people 
in  reality  possessed  in  their  home-industries  and  native  resources  a 
superabundant  supply  for  every  need,  while  the  American  republic 
was  just  beginning  to  recover  from  the  terrible  effects  of  her  long 
war  of  independence.  It  had  been  far  more  unjust  and  more  cruel 
to  attribute  to  the  selfishness  or  unprogressiveness  of  priestly  rule  the 
heritage  of  disorder,  ruin,  poverty,  and  discontent  which  Pius  VII. 
received  from  his  predecessor,  and  which  was  but  the  direct  and 
intended  result  of  the  atrocious  French  invasion  and  occupation. 

Every  one  knows  how  this  manifold  misery  was  increased  a hun- 
dred-fold by  the  Napoleonic  rule,  and  how  heroically,  after  his  re- 
storation, Pius  strove,  and  strove  in  vain,  to  remedy  the  irremediable 
evil.  Was  not  this  hopeless  disorder  and  bankruptcy  bequeathed 
successively  as  an  heirloom  to  every  one  of  his  three  successors  ? 
And  were  not  the  French  the  first  to  censure,  to  decry,  to  irritate, 
where  they  should  have  taken  all  the  blame  to  themselves,  and  for 
very  shame  endeavored  to  encourage  and  stimulate  the  papal  govern- 
ment in  its  continued  effort  at  solid  improvement  ? 

Was  the  Ninth  Pius  to  blame  because  the  finances  of  the  Eoman 
States  were  in  a seemingly  hopeless  disorder  ? or  because  the  public 
mind  was  so  unsettled  that  it  would  not  be  contented  with  any  one 
plan  of  reform — so  directed  by  the  men  who  created  and  ruled  public 
opinion,  that  no  possible  concession  could  be  accepted  or  acceptable 
short  of  the  utter  demolition  of  the  existing  social  fabric  ? 

All — ^no  matter  what  their  race  or  creed — who  still  cling  to  the 
truths  of  Revelation,  and  believe  in  the  saving  virtue  of  Christian 
morality,  should  open  their  eyes  at  length  to  the  faet  that  the  motive- 
force  of  revolution  in  the  Roman  States,  or,  indeed,  in  all  Italy,  is 
not  so  much  legitimate  discontent  at  existing  political  imperfections 
or  acknowledged  misgovernment,  as  hostility  to  all  supernatural 
religion  and  a fierce  determination  to  get  rid  of  it,  even  by  the 
extermination  of  its  ministers  and  professors. 

Hence  we  must  be  prepared  to  find  that  while  the  Pope  and  his 
ministers  are  straining  every  nerve  to  effect  all  needful  and  beneficial 
changes,  the  clubs  have  been  working  on  the  mind  of  the  masses  in 
such  a way  as  to  make  them  seek  something  beyond  these  very 


Strategy  of  the  Radicals — Refor7ns,  log 

reforms  they  were  clamoring  for  a day  or  two  previously.  The  sin- 
cere and  devoted  efforts  of  Pius  and  his  associates,  and  the  hidden 
irresistible  force  that  counteracted  all  their  efforts,  remind  one  of 
what  is  said  of  the  terrible  and  destructive  industry  of  the  white 
ants.  A man  builds  his  home  in  some  lovely  tract  of  the  primeval 
forest,  planning  comfort  and  plenty  for  his  dear  ones,  and  a sure 
shelter  from  heat  and  cold  and  storm.  Every  material  in  his  house 
is  the  choicest  the  forest  affords,  and  it  is  wrought  with  a skillful 
and  loving  hand,  making  everything  within  and  without  appear  as 
beautiful  as  it  is  substantial. 

But  lo  ! while  the  master  and  his  family  are  at  their  labor  abroad, 
and  while  they  are  enjoying  in  fancied  security  the  sleep  that  re- 
creates body  and  mind  for  the  morrow,  these  invisible  legions  are 
busy  on  every  part  of  the  framework  of  that  building,  on  every  por- 
tion of  its  beautiful  furniture,  eating  away  its  substance  and  leav 
ing  nothing  but  a shell,  till  an  accident— the  first  blast  from  the 
approaching  tempest — causes  that  home  to  crumble  about  the  ears 
of  its  inmates. 

The  Pope  was  not  blind  to  the  hidden  and  potent  influence  of  the 
Young  Italy  League  and  its  affiliated  sects,”  through  the  clubs, 
now  become  the  usual  resort  of  the  people,”  that  is,  of  the  dregs  of 
the  city  populations,  and  of  the  men  of  the  middle  classes  who  were 
impatient  to  climb  into  place  and  power,  no  matter  by  what  means. 
Amid  the  splendid  pageantry  of  his  coronation  he  was  heard  to 
cay,  while  the  multitude  shouted  with  joyous  acclaim,  and  friends 
expressed  their  congratulations,  It  is  only  the  beginning  of  perse- 
cution ! ” 

The  prevision  of  what  he  deemed  inevitable  did  not  in  anywise 
damp  his  zeal  in  undertaking,  or  his  ardor  in  carrying  out,  what  he 
deemed  necessary  to  the  security  of  the  government  and  the  welfare 
of  all  classes. 

The  condition  of  the  treasury  and  the  burdens  which  pressed  so 
heavily  on  the  laboring  men  were  the  first  subjects  of  his  attention. 
The  French,  beside  having  drained  the  country  again  and  again  of 
all  its  revenues,  had  left  it  burdened  with  a hopeless  load  of  debt. 
E'ot  satisfied  with  collecting  with  a pitiless  rigor  the  revenues  and 
taxes  of  the  present  year,  they  anticipated  on  the  future,  farming 
out  to  greedy  monopolists  every  branch  of  revenue,  trade,  and 
industry. 

Against  this  ruinous  and  oppressive  system  Pope  after  Pope  had 


I lO 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


struggled  in  vain.  The  gigantic  effort  at  financial  reform  inaugu- 
rated by  Leo  XII.  had  only  a veiy  doubtful  and  partial  success ; 
the  fierce  enmity  that  his  reforms  created  among  the  wealthy  and 
powerful  monopolists  gave  rise  to  suspicions  of  poisoning,  which 
gained  more  or  less  credit  with  the  public. 

It  is  certain  that  the  hitter  hostility  of  these  same  monopolists,  and 
of  the  old  officials,  thwarted  in  their  habitual  prevarications  or  dis- 
placed for  misconduct,  was  one  main  cause  of  the  calamities  that 
soon  assailed  the  pontifical  government.  The  Pope  did  not  hesitate 
a moment  to  do  his  duty  for  all  that. 

“The  import  duties  on  cotton,  woolen,  and  silk  manufactured 
goods  were  reduced,  on  an  average,  fifty  per  cent.  But  thus  far  all 
such  reductions  and  reforms  had  failed  to  check  the  annual  deficit, 
which  had  been  constantly  increasing  for  the  past  sixteen  years,  and 
Pius  was  reasonably  alarmed.  ...  He  now  boldly  broached  the 
subject  of  an  income-tax,  and  announced  the  abolition  of  the  tax 
upon  flour  on  the  expiration  of  the  existing  monopoly,  also  a dimi- 
nution of  the  duty  on  salt,  the  very  last  commodity  upon  which 
duties  should  be  levied.” — Legge. 

The  author  cannot  do  better,  on  this  topic,  than  quote  his  own 
words  from  another  work  : “ The  Pope  appointed  commissions  com- 
posed of  eminent  Italian  jurists  to  inquire  into  needed  reforms ; 
he  reduced  his  own  household  expenses,  abolished  all  pensions  not 
granted  for  great  public  services,  imposed  a three-years’  tax  on  all 
benefices  and  wealthy  church  corporations,  reduced  the  taxes,  char- 
tered railroad  and  telegraph  companies,  declared  Sinigaglia  and 
Ancona  free  ports  of  entry,  stimulated  home  manufactures,  and 
eneouraged  the  formation  of  agricultural  societies.  He  commanded 
that  all  the  waste  lands  between  Ostia  and  Porto  d’  Anzio  should  be 
prepared  to  grow  rice,  and  that  the  crop  should  he  put  in  and 
gathered  at  the  expense  of  the  treasury,  one-half  of  the  harvest  being 
destined  for  the  poor  ; and  the  waters  of  Lake  Hemi  were  diverted 
for  the  purpose  of  irrigating  the  rice  fields.”  * 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  first  chapters  of  this  hook,  the  Pope  was 
born  in  a province  eminently  distinguished  from  the  earliest  times 
for  its  successful  culture  of  all  the  useful  and  agreeable  arts.  The 
Legations,  the  Marches,  and  Umbria  have  always  been  like  a bee- 
hive, swarming  with  an  active  and  thrifty  population,  and  intent  on 


* “American  Cyclopaedia/’  vol.  xiii.,  p.  561. 


Reforms— Noisy  Demonstrations,  1 1 1 

making  the  most  of  all  the  gifts  of  nature.  Whereyer  Pius  had  been 
he  had  shown  a keen  interest  in  the  local  industries,  making  himself 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  resources  of  the  country  around, 
and  encouraging  their  deyelopment  to  the  utmost.  No  sooner  had 
he  been  made  soyereign  than  he  exerted  himself  in  furthering  still 
more  manufactures  and  industries  of  eyery  kind.  Por  the  railways 
which  he  contemplated  he  wished  to  ayail  himself  of  the  natiye  ores 
of  Italy  and  its  splendid  water-power.  Thus,  for  instance,  he  had 
yast  iron-works  established  at  Tiyoli,  utilizing  for  his  purpose  the 
falls  of  the  Anio,  and  making  frequent  yisits  to  the  place  to  stimulate 
both  oyerseers  and  workmen. 

He  also  authorized  the  opening  of  reading-rooms  and  mechanics’ 
clubs,  founded  a central  normal  school  for  the  education  of  trades- 
men, patronized  scientific  congresses,  and  proyided  free  lodging- 
houses  for  the  homeless.  He  showed  like  zeal  for  the  reform  of  ec- 
clesiastical institutions,  yisited  in  disguise  or  at  unexpected  moments 
the  monasteries,  schools,  hospitals,  and  prisons  of  Rome,  and  went 
about  the  streets  on  foot  without  the  usual  guards  and  attend- 
ants.” * 

In  all  this  he  did  not  conceal  that  he  was  copying  the  admirable 
examples  set  him  by  Leo  XII.  His  popularity,  or  the  commanded  ” 
enthusiasm  of  the  idle  multitude  went  on  increasing,  and  profited  by 
eyery  religious  celebration  in  the  city  to  get  up  a demonstration  in 
his  honor.  At  the  head  of  all  these  noisy  outpourings  of  sentiment 
were  inyariably  found  the  tools  of  the  Young  Italy  clubs,  and  fore- 
most among  them  was  one  Angelo  Brunetti,  niclmamed  Cicerua- 
chio,  from  his  gift  of  ready  and  pompous  speech,  and  whose  daring, 
boisterous  good-nature  and  Roman  cunning  had  made  him  the  idol 
of  the  populace  and  a most  useful  agent  of  the  clubs.  It  was  in  yain 
that  Pius  stroye  to  repress  or  moderate  these  noisy  gatherings ; he 
soon  found  that  the  wild  beast  whose  cage  he  had  broken  could  not 
be  restrained  from  roaring  when  it  saw  him  and  from  licking  his 
hand  in  public.  But  any  attempt  to  check  its  unwelcome  affection 
only  made  it  show  its  teeth  and  claws. 

While  Rome  was  getting  ready  for  the  great  ceremony  of  the 
Pope’s  taking  solemn  possession  of  St.  John  Lateran,  the  cathedral 
of  Rome,  and  the  first  in  dignity  of  all  churches  in  the  Catholic 
world,  Genoa  was  preparing  to  hold  a scientific  congress,”  com- 


* Ibidem. 


I 12 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


posed  of  tlie  most  distinguislied  men  of  Italy  and  other  learned  men 
from  foreign  countries. 

As  the  event  proved,  this  assemblage  was  not  intended  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  any  of  the  purposes  of  science ; the  name  was  a blind, 
under  cover  of  which  the  revolutionists  had  resolved  to  meet  and 
discuss  the  necessity  and  the  means  of  immediate  ‘‘action.”  All, 
indeed,  were  not  revolutionists.  Farini,  and  men  who,  like  him, 
wished  to  see  Italy  rise  to  a position  that  should  for  ever  prevent  her 
from  being  overrun  and  despoiled  by  any  one  of  her  powerful  neigh- 
bors, did  not  look  beyond  an  Italy  forming  under  its  own  lawful 
princes,  and  these  only,  a confederation,  or,  if  that  were  impractica- 
ble, one  strong  constitutional  government,  which  should  be  carried 
on  for  the  people  and  through  the  people.  Even  the  most  moderate 
of  these  were  in  favor  of  doing  away,  in  the  Eoman  States,  with  an 
administration  carried  on  exclusively  or  principally  by  churchmen. 
They  did  not  want  to  dethrone  the  Pope ; but  they  would  have  him 
govern  by  a constitution  administered  by  laymen.  It  is  not  to  be 
denied  that  this  strong  and  numerous  wing  of  the  congress  of  Genoa  • 
was  influenced  by  Piedmontese  statesmen  and  publicists,  whose 
avowed  or  secret  purpose  was  the  formation  of  an  Italian  kingdom 
under  the  Carignan-Savoy  dynasty.  In  their  opinion  the  reforms 
inaugurated  by  the  Pope,  the  liberal  measures  which  his  example 
forced  upon  the  other  sovereigns  of  Italy,  and  the  plots  and  agita- 
tion of  Mazzini  and  his  associates,  must  in  the  end  forward  the  supre- 
macy of  Piedmont. 

But  the  man  who  really  though  invisibly  presided  over  this  con- 
gress of  Genoa  was  Mazzini.  It  was  his  followers  who  dared  to 
utter  the  living  words  of  national  independence  and  a united  Italy, 
which  thrilled  every  soul  there,  and  sent  all  these  men  to  their  homes 
with  the  firm  determination  so  to  shape  and  direct  events  and  move- 
ments in  the  Peninsula  that  Italian  liberty  and  unity  should  be  the 
inevitable  result. 

It  was  remarkable  that  in  this  congress  the  ominous  name  of 
Bonaparte  became  unblushingly  conspicuous  in  the  person  of  the 
Prince  of  Canino,  the  son  and  heir  of  Lucien  Bonaparte,  who  had 
been  created  a prince  by  Pius  VII.  At  the  same  time  a cousin  of  this 
same  Canino,  Louis  Napoleon,  was  the  favored  guest  of  Lord  Pal- 
merston and  the  English  nobility,  while  the  foreign  secretary  was 
secretly  preparing  the  revolution  which  soon  afterward  hurled  Louis 
Philippe  from  his  throne,  in  revenge  of  the  contemplated  Spanish 


Cala77iities  that  helped  the  Mazzinian  Agitation,  1 13 

marriages,  and  to  prevent,  in  future,  a Frencli  protectorate  over 
Switzerland  and  Italy.  Both  the  Prince  of  Canino  and  his  cousin 
were  members  of  the  Young  Italy  and  Young  Europe  leagues, 
pledged  solemnly  to  further  the  objects  of  the  conspirators  if  ever 
they  should  be  placed  in  power. 

Of  Canino’s  action  in  the  Congress  of  Genoa,  Legge  speaks  as  fol- 
lows : Courageously  ignoring  his  not  irreproachable  antecedents, 
Avhich  had  isolated  him  in  turn  from  every  section  of  his  compatriots, 
the  prince  caught  the  prevailing  ferment,  insulted  the  memory  of 
Gregory,  sneered  at  the  Jesuits,  and  ran  wild  in  praise  of  the  new 
Pontiff,  in  whose  dethronement  he  was  destined  to  become  conspicu- 
ously instrumental.^’ 

Thus  the  Scientific  Congress  ” of  Genoa  was  in  reality  a revolu- 
tionary convention,  from  which  men  went  back  to  their  homes  bent 
on  regenerating  Italy  politically ; the  Eadicals  pledged  to  make 
of  her  a republic  after  their  own  heart,  without  king,  or  pope,  or 
church,  and  with  one  single  chamber  combining  the  functions  of 
legislature,  judiciary,  and  executive. 

And  so  the  coming  events  cast  their  portentous  shadows  over  the 
land. 

It  was  a most  fitting  opportunity  for  Mazzini  to  publish  boldly 
the  manifesto  partly  reproduced  in  a preceding  chapter.  Its  direc- 
tions had  been  acted  upon  most  faithfully  up  to  that  hour,  the  suc- 
cess which  attended  them,  and  the  impunity  now  enjoyed  by  the 
conspirators,  encouraged  their  chief  to  give  them  publicity,  and 
thereby  to  recommend  their  adoption  wherever  revolution  was  to 
prepare  the  downfall  of  Christianity. 

Unforeseen  calamities  came  to  assist  the  agitation  thus  devised,  and 
to  precipitate  the  movement.  The  scarce  harvest  of  the  year  1845, 
was  followed  in  1846  by  another  not  much  more  abundant ; there 
was  dearth  in  consequence  and  fears  of  a famine.  These  apprehen- 
sions were  artfully  exaggerated  by  the  liberal  press.  The  papal  gov- 
ernment had  just  destroyed  the  monopoly  in  grain  and  flour,  but  it 
served  the  purpose  of  the  agitators  to  make  the  evil-minded  among 
the  people  believe  that  the  scarcity  was  caused  by  the  government. 
In  reality  there  had  been  a good  average  crop  in  Umbria  and  the 
Marches,  though  it  fell  below  the  average  elsewhere.  The  govern- 
ment, moreover,  had  thrown  open  its  ports  to  the  free  importation  of 
foreign  bread-stuffs,  and  had  established  deposits  of  cheap  provisions 
in  the  districts  where  the  dearth  prevailed.  But  the  fancy  of  the 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


114 

populace  in  tlie  cities  was  inflamed  by  tbe  events  of  the  past  months, 
and  their  passionate  nature  exploded  in  rioting,  violence,  and  blood- 
shed. The  bitter  denunciations  of  the  clubs  and  the  invectives  of 
the  demagogic  press  held  up  the  government  to  unqualified  hatred, 
while  sparing  or  praising  the  person  and  intentions  of  the  sovereign. 

The  Piedmontese  liberal  party  now  began  to  show  their  hand, 
and  to  discover  their  ultimate  purpose.  Massimo  d’Azeglio,  whoso 
works  of  fiction,  all  inculcating  the  lessons  of  Young  Italy,  had 
made  him  very  popular,  hastened  to  publish,  after  the  first  risings 
in  Bologna  and  the  Campagna,  a work  * in  which  he  attributed  these 
calamities  of  scarcity  of  food,  and  all  the  ills  under  which  the 
Koman  States  were  suffering,  to  clerical  rule,  contrasting  the  impro- 
vident and  despotic  government  of  priests  with  the  security  and 
plenty  with  which  Piedmont  was  blessed  under  a lay  government. 

This  publication  was  circulated  widely,  and  served,  wherever  it  was 
read,  as  a text  for  passionate  declamation  against  the  Holy  See,  the 
speakers  or  writers  affecting  to  distinguish  between  the  person  of 
the  pontiff  and  the  system  of  which  he  was  the  head. 

Meanwhile  Gizzi  was  displaying  untiring  energy  in  his  endeavors 
to  carry  out  the  Holy  Fathers  measures  of  reform  ; nor  was  his  labor 
pursued  without  serious  and  violent  opposition.  It  became  appar- 
ent, as  the  autumn  advanced,  as  the  doings  of  the  Congress  of  Genoa 
became  known,  and  Mazzini’s  manifesto,  with  the  pamphlet  of 
d’Azeglio,  found  their  way  to  the  reading  public,  that  much  as  the 
Pope  had  done  to  satisfy  the  Liberals,  still  more  and  more  must  be 
conceded  if  he  would  have  peace.  Those  among  the  Conservatives 
who  had  reasoned  themselves  into  believing  concession  timely  or 
necessary,  now  began  to  review  their  own  reasoning.  But  the  Pope 
doubted  not,  or  acted  as  if  he  doubted  not.  At  any  rate,  he  resolved 
to  put  a stop  to  the  frequent  and  noisy  gatherings  held  under  one 
pretext  or  another  in  Pome  and  the  provinces.  Mazzini’s  strategy 
was  revealed  to  the  public  ; the  Pope,  however,  disdained  to  notice 
the  cowardly  assassin  or  his  plans,  and  found  a far  better  reason  in 
the  very  scarcity  of  money  and  dearth  of  provisions  which  had  been 
made  the  pretext  of  sedition  and  bloodshed. 

Cardinal  Gizzi,  according  to  Mr.  Petre,  the  English  charge  'I af. 
faires  in  Pome,  issued  an  instruction  to  the  governors  of  provinces 
recommending  them  'Go  represent,  as  occasion  may  offer,  to  the 


* Gli  Uliimi  Casi  di  Eomagna. 


The  Pope  takes  Possession  of  St.  John  Later aii.  1 1 5 


populations  under  their  charge,  how  seriously  these  frequent  assem- 
blages must  interfere  with  the  good  order  and  economy  of  families, 
and  how  much  more  agreeable  it  would  be  to  the  feelings  of  his 
Holiness  if  the  moneys  collected  for  future  rejoicings  were  to  be 
reseryed  for  the  relief  of  distress  during  the  coming  winter.” 

This  was  in  October;  on  the  8th  of  l^ovember  the  Pope  took 
possession  of  St.  John  Lateran.  The  solemnities  usual  on  this 
occasion  had  ever  been  the  most  splendid  known  to  Christian  Eome. 
The  first  church,  built  on  the  site  of  the  present  grand  basilica,  by 
Constantine,  was  dedicated  by  Pope  St.  Sylvester,  on  November  the 
9th,  324.  The  emperor  himself — so  the  tradition  runs — worked 
among  the  masons.  It  was  dedicated  to  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and 
was  thus  the  first  cathedral  church  of  Eome,  becoming  thereby 
the  first  in  dignity  in  the  Christian  world;  and  the  adjoining 
palace  was  for  a thousand  years  the  ordinary  residence  of  the  Popes, 
as  the  school  attached  to  it  was  the  most  renowned  in  Italy  for 
sacred  learning. 

That  November  morning  on  which  Pius  IX.  went  to  be  enthroned 
in  his  cathedral  shone  gloriously  on  the  gorgeous  pageant.  For 
all  Eome  was  there,  and  Eome  seemed  not  to  know  how  she 
could  sufiiciently  testify  to  her  sovereign  her  grateful  attachment. 
^^When  the  state  chariot  appeared,”  writes  Whitefield,  ‘'the  ac- 
clamations rang  loud  and  universal.  His  Holiness  seemed  deeply 
affected  by  sounds  rarely  (?)  heard  by  his  predecessors.  He  is  a 
man  of  fifty-four  years  of  age,  healthy  in  appearance,  somewhat 
flushed  in  countenance,  of  an  amiable  aspect,  with  intelligence 
expressed  on  his  brow.  ... 

“We  are  .now  before  the  celebrated  Basilica  of  St.  John  Lateran. 
In  this  place  were  assembled  50,000  people  at  least,  countless  car- 
riages, the  whole  garrison  of  Eome,  and  all  the  persons  who  were 
engaged  in  the  ceremonial.  . . . 

“I  passed  to  the  piazza  in  front  of  the  Basilica  to  witness  the 
giving  of  the  blessing.  . . . The  Pope  is  carried  in  his  por- 

tative throne  to  the  front  window  above  the  great  portal  of  the 
church,  the  huge  windows  are  removed,  an  awning  raised,  and 
decorations  of  arras  and  gold-wrought  draperies  spread  around. 
The  pontiff  can  plainly  be  seen  by  the  multitude  in  the  piazza  as  he 
is  borne  forward.  ...  At  a signal  the  cannons  fire,  the  music 
breaks  forth,  the  Pope  raises  his  hand,  the  troops  kneel,  and  some  of 
the  people,  in  profound  silence.  The  spectacle  is  most  imposing ; 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


1 16 

but  on  this  occasion  the  shouts  of  thousands  of  grateful  people  gave 
a life  to  the  ceremony  without  which  it  had  been  cold,  and  of  the 
vast  multitude  assembled  every  individual  exhibited  the  joy  of  his 
heart.  The  Pope  raised  himself  and  stood  upright  for  some  min- 
utes before  the  people,  the  triple  crown  on  his  head ; this  was  the 
signal  for  fresh  acclamations.  He  gave  the  blessing,  waving  his 
hand  in  the  form  of  a cross.  A burst  of  enthusiasm  followed,  the 
cannons  thundered,  the  music  sounded,  drums,  trumpets,  and  peal- 
ing of  bells  joined  with  the  people  in  one  mighty  chorus,  and  the 
pageant  was  over.” 


CHAPTER  XL 


Ecclesiastical  Acts  of  Pius  IX.  : Fiest  Ek-ctclical  to  the 
Hieeakchy  foeeshadowihg  the  chief  Teachings  of  his 
Pontificate — Inundations  in  Rome — Fatheely  Chaeity 
OF  THE  Pope — His  Geneeosity  towaed  the  Jewish  Suf- 
FEEEES — The  Inundations,  like  the  Coen  Riots,  made  a 
Geievance  against  the  Pontifical  Goveenment — Cele- 
BEATION  AT  GeNOA — GeOWING  DISCONTENT  OF  AuSTEIA. 

Novesiber-December,  1846. 

The  close  of  the  year  1846  was  marked  by  two  eyents  descrying 
of  special  notice — the  publication  on  Xoyembcr  9th  of  the  Pope’s 
first  encyclical  to  the  hierarchy  of  the  Church,  and  the  calamitous 
inundation  of  the  Tiber,  which  called  forth  the  fatherly  generosity 
of  the  pontiff. 

Pius  had  yery  properly  deferred  his  expected  address  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  hierarchy  till  he  had  taken  official  possession  of  his 
cathedral  church.  The  document  itself  was  assailed  with  the  most 
bitter  and  unjust  criticism  in  a portion  of  the  European  press,  while 
Catholics  eyerywhere  receiyed  it  with  yeneration. 

To  the  serious  student  of  history,  to  the  theologian,  and  to  the 
statesman  this  encyclical  must  offer,  when  read  attentiyely  and 
compared  with  the  doctrinal  acts  of  the  long  reign  of  Pius  IX.,  a 
most  striking  instance  of  uninterrupted  unity  of  thought  and  teach- 
ing. There  is  not  an  error  condemned  in  the  '^Syllabus”  that  is 
not  proscribed  here  ; not  a truth  taught  by  implication’  in  this  great 
doctrinal  judgment,  or  affirmed  explicitly  in  the  twoi  dogmatic  com 
stitutions  published  up  to  July  18,  1870,  in  the’  Council  of  the 
Vatican,  that  is  not  found  in  this  prophetic  address  to  the  teach- 
ing body  in  the  Church’.  Persons  who  may  haye  felt,  in  measuring 
the  len^h  of  his  pontificate  and  recalling  the  many  doctrinal  ques- 
tions forced  upon  him  for  decision,  disposed  to  think  that  Pius  IX. 
had  not  been  consistent  with  himself  as  the  supreme  teacher  in 

117 


ii8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


the  Church,  or  in  accord  with  his  predecessors,  will  be  convinced, 
after  a comparison  of  his  utterances  one  with  another,  and  with 
those  of  other  Popes,  that  one  and  the  same  voice  ever  speaks  from 
the  chair  of  Peter. 

There  is  something  very  touching  in  the  manner  in  which  he  who 
now  holds  on  earth  the  place  of  the  Good  Shepherd  recalls  to  his 
fellow-bishops  the  occupations  and  duties  of  the  charge  so  well  filled 
at  Imola  and  Spoleto. 

‘‘During  many  years,  venerable  brothers,  we  endeavored  after 
your  example  to  fulfill  as  best  we  might  the  laborious  and  anxious 
duties  of  the  episcopal  office,  feeding  the  fiock  intrusted  to  us  on  the 
hill-sides  of  Israel  in  the  richest  pasture  grounds  and  near  the  liv- 
ing waters,  when  lo  ! the  death  of  our  illustrious  predecessor,  Greg- 
ory XVI.,  . . . called  us  to  the  sovereign  pontificate,  very 

unexpectedly  to  ourselves,  and  by  some  hidden  design  of  Provi- 
dence. ...  If  the  burden  of  the  apostolic  ministry  must  at  all 
times  be  looked  upon  with  awe  and  apprehension,  the  difficulties 
and  perils  of  the  present  should  make  it  still  more  formidable. 
. . . Wherefore,  the  consciousness  of  our  own  Tveakness  and 

of  the  awful  w^eight  of  this  supreme  responsibility  amid  all  these 
dangers,  should  have  moved  us  to  tears  and  discouragement,  had  we 
not  placed  our  hope  in  that  Saviour-God  who  never  forsakes  such 
as  trust  in  him,  and  who  displays  his  might  by  making  use  of  the 
most  unfit  instruments  in  governing  his  Church,  in  order  that 
all  men  may  know  thereby  that  it  is  he  who  rules  and  protects 
her.  . . . 

“Hence,  from  the  first  hour  in  which  we  were  placed  in  this 
exalted  seat  of  the  prince  of  the  apostles,  and  received  the  charge 
delivered  to  him  by  the  eternal  Prince  of  Pastors,  of  feeding  and 
governing  not  only  the  “lambs”  of  the  flock,  that  is,  the  whole 
Christian  people,  but  also  the  “sheep,”  namely,  the  bishops,  we 
yearned  to  address  you  in  the  fullness  of  our  charity  and  affec- 
tion.” 

The  twofold  idea  of  his  pressing  duty  toward  “the  Christian 
people,”  and  toward  their  “pastors,”  comprises  the  whole  of  this 
beautiful  letter.  In  the  first  part  are  pointed  out  the  dangers  which 
threaten  the  fold  of  Christ  from  the  various  errors  of  the  day  and 
the  associations  formed  to  combat  revelation,  the  Church,  and 
civil  society ; in  the  second  he  urges  on  the  bishops  zeal,  the  ex- 
ample of  a holy  life,  the  formation  of  a truly  pious,  learned,  and 


Fh'st  EncycUcaL 


119 

exemplary  priestliood,  and  reminds  sovereigns  tliat  it  is  tlieir  duty 
and  interest  to  support  and  defend  religion  if  they  would  have  sub- 
jects enlightened  and  obedient  from  conscientious  conviction. 

‘^In  this  our  age  a fierce  and  terrible  war  is  waged  against  every 
portion  of  the  Catholic  fold  by  men  linked  in  guilty  fellowship, 
. . . who  disentomb  from  the  darkness  all  the  most  mon- 
strous shapes  of  error  and  industriously  disseminate  them.  , . . 

These  haters  of  truth  and  light,  these  skillful  artificers  of  fraud,  labor 
to  extinguish  in  men’s  minds  every  tendency  toward  piety,  justice, 
and  honor,  to  corrupt  morals,  to  confound  all  notions  of  divine  and 
human  right,  ...  to  overturn  from  their  bases  the  Catholic 
religion  and  civil  society.  . . . ” 

These  deadly  enemies  of  the  Christian  name  . . . pub- 

licly teach  that  the  mysteries  of  our  religion  are  fables  invented  by 
man ; that  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  opposed  to  the 
welfare  of  society ; . . , they  deny  Christ  himself,  and  the  very 

existence  of  God ; . . . they  claim  exclusively  to  know  the  way 

to  true  prosperity,  and  to  he  called  philosophers.  . . . 

They  cease  not  to  appeal  to  reason,  and  to  set  it  above  the  faith 
inculcated  by  Christ,  pronouncing  the  one  to  be  contrary  to  the 
other.  . . . Whereas  both  are  streams  from  the  one  eternal 

fountain  of  truth. 

They  would  have  the  progress  and  development  which  obtained 
in  human  things  prevail  also  in  the  Catholic  religion,  the  work  of 
God,  not  to  be  perfected  by  human  genius.  . . . It  is  a religion 

revealed  by  God  to  man,  deriving  all  its  force  from  the  authority  of 
the  revealer,  . . . allowing  human  reason  to  inquire  into  the 

fact  of  revelation,  and  claiming  the  assent  and  obedience  of  reason 
once  that  fact  has  been  ascertained.  . . 

Then  follow  the  arguments  by  which  reason  can  convince  itself 
that  the  Christian  religion  has  God  for  its  author.  But  this  reve- 
lation is  guarded  and  expounded  by  a living  authority,  indefectibly 
present  in  the  Church  built  by  Christ  on  Peter,  and  speaking  ^in- 
fallibly ” through  him  in  his  successors,  seated  on  his  chair. 

The  doctrine  propounded  here  is  almost  identical  in  substance  and 
expression  with  the  chapter  in  the  Constitution,  Pastor  JEternus, 
prefacing  the  decree  on  the  ‘teaching  office  of  the  Koman  pontiff,” 
and  defining  his  infallibility.  It  was  received  without  a murmur  of 
dissent  by  every  bishop  in  the  Catholic  world. 

The  “secret  societies”  which  conspire  against  “the  Eoman  chair 


120 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


of  the  blessed  Peter”  are  next  pointed  out ; ^‘societies  emerging  from 
their  native  darkness  for  the  ruin  and  desolation  of  the  community, 
and  again  and  again  condemned  by  the  Eoman  pontiffs.  . . 

“ This  also  is  the  tendency  and  design  of  the  insidious  Bible  so- 
cieties, which,  borrowing  the  arts  of  the  heretics  of  old,  cease  not  to 
obtrude  upon  all  kinds  of  people  ...  . copies  in  vast  number 

of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  translated,  in  violation  of  the  most  religious 
rules  of  the  Church,  into  living  languages,  and  accompanied  fre- 
quently with  perverse  and  erroneous  interpretations,  ...  to  the 
end  that,  . . . the  authority  of  the  Church  being  set  aside, 

every  man  may  interpret  the  revealed  word  of  the  Almighty  in  con- 
formity with  his  own  private  judgment,  . . . which  societies, 

emulous  of  his  predecessor,  Gregory  XVI reproveth, 

. . . and  we  desire  equally  to  condemn.  ” 

This  censure  of  the  Bible  societies  in  connection  with  the  ^‘secret 
societies”  caused  a great  outcry  among  Protestants  in  Europe  and 
America.  We  have  already  mentioned  the  condemnation  pronounced 
by  Gregory.  The  Christian  League’s”  connection  with  the  Italian 
conspirators  cannot  now  be  denied.  In  August,  1846,  the  Evan- 
gelical Alliance  ” was  inaugurated  in  England ; its  avowed  object  was 
to  combat  and  uproot  Catholicism.  Its  members  were  very  wary  at 
first  about  admitting  that  they  were  in  sympathy  or  in  co-operation 
with  the  Italian  Liberals,  still  less  with  Young  Italy.  But  the 
reports  published  by  their  successive  international  conferences  no 
longer  permits  any  one  to  doubt  that  fact.  They  have  been  every- 
where in  communion  with  secret  societies,  and  have  co-operated 
with  them  at  home  and  abroad.  They  boasted  in  after  years  of  the 
harm  they  had  done  to  the  cause  of  the  Papacy  in  Italy,  and  of  the 
conquests  they  had  made  among  its  populations. 

Was  not  Pius  IX.  well  inspired  when  he  involved  them  in  the  same 
condemnation? 

The  pestilential  indifference  or  skepticism  about  all  religious  faith 
and  practice;  the  conspiracy  against  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,” 
set  on  foot  in  Germany,  encouraged  by  shameless  priests  in  Italy, 
and  promoted  by  the  civil  power ; and  then  the  spreading  plague  of 
‘‘  communism”  are  denounced  to  the  vigilance  of  the  bishops. 

The  manifold  evil  done  by  the  deluge  of  bad  books  that  were  made 
everywhere  the  vehicle  of  error  and  immorality,  and  the  efficient 
auxiliaries  of  the  conspirators ; the  unbridled  license  of  uttering 
through  the  press  the  most  monstrous  errors  and  of  sapping  the 


Teachmgs  of  the  Encyclical, 


I2I 


foundations  of  domestic,  civil,  and  religious  order,  are  proscribed  in 
advance  of  the  S}dlabus.” 

The  bishops — in  the  second  part — are  exhorted  to  renewed  zeal  in 
defending  every  holy  interest  threatened  by  all  these  enemies.  They 
are  to  instruct  their  respective  flocks  with  untiring  care,  enlighten- 
ing and  conflrming  them  in  the  faith,  laying  bare  to  them  the  snares 
and  artifices  of  the  adversaries  of  religion,  giving  their  hearers  the 
example  of  meekness  and  humility  of  heart.  Do  not  fail  in  the 
spirit  of  gentleness  and  meekness,  with  fatherly  warning  and  advice, 
to  correct,  reprove,  entreat,  or  rebuke,  in  all  kindness,  teaching 
patiently  those  whom  you  find  straying  from  the  path,  ...  as 
loving  words  are  more  efficacious  in  correcting  than  authority,*  en- 
treaty more  than  threatening,  and  charity  than  force.” 

This  had  ever  been  his  own  rule ; these  were  the  exhortations  often 
addressed  to  his  priests,  at  Imola,  and  they  fell  from  his  heart  on  that 
of  every  bishop  in  the  Church. 

The  sweet  virtues  to  be  inculcated  on  the  laity  are  charity  and 
peace,”  the  avoidance  of  ‘^all  dissensions,  enmities,  strife,  and  jeal- 
ousy;” the  enforcement  of  ^^all  due  obedience  toward  sovereigns 
and  persons  in  power,”  and  all  this,  because  it  is  God’s  will,  and  that 
its  observance  insures  every  temporal  blessing. 

You  will,  in  that  wisdom  which  distinguishes  you,  perceive  that 
it  will  behoove  you  to  use  great  zeal  and  care  that  in  the  clergy 
shine  forth  gravity  of  manners,  integrity  of  life,  holiness,  and  learn- 
ing ; that  ecclesiastical  discipline,  where  it  has  fallen  off,  may 
be  restored  to  its  former  splendor,  and  where  it  exists,  it  may  be 
strictly  preserved.”  Admit  to  the  administration  of  holy  things 
those  only  who,  after  strict  examination  and  careful  trial,  show  that 
they  possess  all  virtues,  and  that  . . . they  may  become  to  your 

dioceses  both  of  use  and  ornament.  . . .” 

Science,  as  well  as  spotless  purity  of  life,  is  an  indispensable  re- 
quisite in  God’s  minister.  Those  who  are  to  preach  his  word  must 
be  deeply  penetrated  with  its  meaning  and  spirit ; no  effort  must  be 
spared  by  the  bishops  to  have  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  announced 
‘Mn  clear  and  intelligible  language,  yet  in  a style  full  of  dignity,” 
so  that  by  full  explanations  of  each  one’s  duties  all  may  be  turned 
away  from  crime  and  won  to  piety,  . . . may  abstain  from  all 

vices  and  practice  all  virtues.”  ' 

l^oble  words  conclude  this  exhortation  to  the  bishops:  ‘‘In  the 
midst  of  so  many  perplexities,  difficulties,  and  dangers  inseparable 


122 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX, 


from  your  charge  in  these  times,  let  no  fear  cast  you  down ; hut 
seeking  strength  in  the  Lord,  and  trusting  to  the  power  of  his  grace, 
bethink  you  how  from  heaven  his  eyes  ever  follow  those  who  con-,* 
tend  for  the  glory  of  his  name,  applauding  nobly  those  who  nobly/ 
venture,  aiding  those  who  fight,  and  crowning  those  who  conquer.” 
To  Catholic  sovereigns  and  governments  there  is  a brief  and  preg- 
nant reminder  that  power  was  given  them  not  only  for  the  govern- 
ment of  their  subjects,  but  especially  for  the  defense  of  the  Church, 
and  that  we  maintain  in  the  cause  of  the  Church  that  of  their  king- 
doms and  of  their  salvation.  . . .” 

Then  presenting  himself  with  his  fellow-bishops  before  the 
throne  of  grace,  he  beseeches  the  Father  of  Mercies,  by  the  merits 
of  his  only  Son,  ‘^to  cast  over  our  weakness  the  fullness  of  his  gifts, 

. . . to  make  the  faith  fiourish  everywhere  with  truth  and 

piety,  self-denial  and  peace,  . . . that  the  Church  may  enjoy 

her  longed-for  liberty,  and  that  there  may  be  but  one  fiock  and  one 
Shepherd.” 

In  that  presence  he  invokes  as  intercessors  with  the  divine  ma- 
jesty “the  most  holy  Mother  of  God,  the  Immaculate  Virgin  Mary, 
our  most  sweet  mother,”  “and  all  the  saints  of  heaven,  who  are 
already  crowned  and  bear  the  palm  of  victory,  that  they  may  obtain 
for  all  Christian  people  the  treasures  of  the  divine  mercy.” 

Such  was  the  first  solemn  appeal  of  the  chief  pastor  to  the  entire 
fiock  of  Christ,  bespeaking  the  great  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
which  were  to  shine  forth  in  his  government  of  the  Church  for  so 
many  memorable  years.  AYe  have  now  to  see  these  same  qualities  of 
prince,  father,  and  good  shepherd  in  active  operation  amid  the  sud- 
den distress  of  his  Eoman  subjects. 

The  summer  of  1846  had  been  remarkable  for  its  excessive  and 
protracted  heat,  and  had  melted  the  snow-fields  of  the  Apennines, 
.and  caused  no  little  damage  and  dismay  along  all  the  water-courses. 
With  the  autumn  came  heavy  and  continuous  rains,  swelling  the 
Anio  and  the  Tiber,  and  making  them  everywhere  overflow  their 
banks.  In  Eome  the  damage  caused  by  the  sudden  inundation  was 
frightful.  It  fell  most  heavily  on  the  J ewish  population  shut  up  in 
a low,  dark,  and  damp  quarter  near  the  river,  and  called  the  Ghetto. 
They  had  been  first  penned  up  there  by  the  austere  Paul  IV. 
(Carafia),  whose  nephews  ground  the  despised  race  pitilessly,  and  for 
that  and  other  acts  of  tyranny  and  greed  were  beheaded  under  Pius  IV. 
Sixtus  V.,  with  whom  Pius  IX.  was  often  compared  during  the  first 


Inundations  at  Rome, 


I2i 

years  of  tlie  latter's  pontificate,  did  a'way  witli  many  of  the  odious 
restrictions  placed  upon  the  Jews.  That  great-souled  Pope  was 
above  the  miserable  prejudices  that  tended  to  keep  the  Hebrew  race  in 
abject  and  perpetual  bondage.  ‘‘  They  were,”  he  was  wont  to  say, 
‘‘the  family  from  whom  Christ  sprung;”  and  should  be  held  in 
reverence  by  all  Christ’s  followers.  It  mattered  not  that  the  nation 
or  its  magistrates  in  an  evil  hour  had  decreed  the  Saviour’s  death. 
They  had  terribly  suffered  for  the  deed;  and  their  descendants 
should  not,  generation  after  generation,  be  made  to  pay  the  penalty 
over  again. 

Sixtus  abrogated  many  of  the  laws  which  weighed  so  heavily  on 
them ; permitted  them  to  practice  the  trades  and  industries  with 
which  they  were  most  familiar,  to  hold  free  intercourse  with  their 
Christian  fellow-citizens,  to  build  houses,  and  have  all  the  refininof 
and  elevating  sources  of  instruction  and  entertainment  that  could 
raise  them  to  an  equality  with  any  other  class.  This  legislation  was, 
unfortunately,  repealed  or  deeply  modified  afterward,  leaving  the 
Jews  downtrodden,  disaffected,  and  ready  (who  could  blame  them?) 
to  join  every  scheme  of  revolution  that  promised  to  be  successful. 

Pius  IX.  inherited  the  large  and  liberal  spirit  of  the  terrible  Six- 
tus, with  the  gentle  and  winning  virtues  which  would  have  availed 
Sixtus  but  little  in  the  “age  of  iron”  in  which  he  lived. 

No  sooner  had  the  first  tidings  of  the  disaster  caused  by  the  in- 
undation reached  the  ears  of  Pius  IX.,  than  he  gave  orders  to  see  to 
it  at  once  that  all  needful  measures  of  relief  should  be  taken  by  the 
government  and  the  municipality.  Hastening  himself  to  the  scene 
of  danger  and  distress,  he  distributed  money  with  unsparing  hand  to 
the  poor  people  forced  to  fly  from  their  homes  by  the  rising  waters. 
Committees  were  soon  organized  under  his  supervision  which  pro- 
vided the  houseless  with  temporary  shelter,  with  clothing,  food,  and 
everything  else  that  was  most  needed.  The  Pope  commanded,  more- 
over, that  an  exact  list  of  the  sufferers  should  be  made  out,  and 
that  full  compensation  from  the  treasury  should  at  once  be  made  to 
them  for  their  losses. 

That  his  conduct  on  this  occasion  should  win  him  the  admiration 
and  love  of  his  people  was  inevitable.  But  the  gratitude  of  the  dis- 
tressed Jews  was  unbounded ; for  he  had  shown  especial  sympathy 
to  them  in  their  need. 

His  fatherly  care  of  this  portion  of  his  subjects  went  further  than 
this ; he  had  the  walls  of  the  Ghetto  razed,  repealed  the  laws  re- 


124 


Life  of  Pope  Pins  IX, 


straining  the  liberty  of  the  Jews  and  limiting  them  to  tlieir  former 
narrow  and  squalid  quarter,  and  made  them  hope  that  a new  era 
had  begun  for  them  in  Eome.  Their  affection  for  their  benefactor 
was  manifested  on  every  occasion,  and  was  evidently  sincere ; they, 
too,  were  afterward  carried  away  in  the  revolutionary  current  set 
loose  by  Christian  hands. 

The  ravages  of  the  inundation  were  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
Jewish  quarter  and  its  immediate  neighborhood.  The  fiood  covered 
all  but  the  more  elevated  portions  of  the  city,  creating  general  dis- 
tress, and  leaving  behind  it,  "when  it  subsided,  not  only  the  seeds  of 
disease,  but  those  of  a discontent  as  unjust  as  it  was  bitter  against 
the  papal  government.  This  discontent  was  carefully  nursed  by 

the  sects  ’’  and  clubs.  The  calamity  had  befallen  the  city  at  the 
time  when  d’Azeglio’s  insidious  pamphlet  on  the  insurrections  in 
the  Eomagna  was  read  with  avidity  in  Eome,  and  served  as  a ready 
and  fertile  text  for  invectives  against  ‘Hhe  priests.’^  Just  as 
d’Azeglio  had  labored  to  trace  to  clerical  rule  the  late  scarcity  and 
the  consequent  disturbances,  so  now  the  orators  of  the  clubs  in- 
veighed against  the  Eoman  government  for  not  having  foreseen  the 
unprecedented  downfall  of  rain,  and  taken  precautions  against  tho 
sudden  and  fearful  inundations  that  followed. 

All  the  splendid  munificence  and  fatherly  devotion  to  his  people 
displayed  by  Pius  IX.,  and  most  generously  emulated  by  the  cardi- 
nals, the  ministers,  the  religious  communities,  and  the  entire  body 
of  the  Eoman  clergy,  were  studiously  overlooked  or  disparaged,  for 
the  purpose  of  holding  up  to  hatred  the  imbecility  and  improvi- 
dence of  priestly  government  in  general. 

To  be  sure,  the  conspirators  and  their  mouth-pieces  affected  to 
draw  a marked  distinction  between  Pius  IX.  and  his  predecessors, 
even  between  him  and  his  ministers.  But  this  odious  distinction, 
while  it  seemed  to  relieve  him  of  all  responsibility  for  past  abuses 
and  shortcomings,  only  tended  to  isolate  him,  to  separate  from  him 
his  best  counselors  and  most  devoted  servants,  leaving  him  the  sole 
idol  of  the  peoj)le’s  praise,  till  he  became  the  helpless  object  of 
their  hatred.” 

And  so,  undismayed  by  the  difficulties  before  him,  and  unde- 
terred by  these  too-evident  alternations  of  popular  enthusiasm  and 
popular  coldness,  the  Pope  continued  his  work  of  reform  and  im- 
provement to  the  end  of  the  year. 

In  the  overflowing  goodness  and  guileless  simplicity  of  his  heart 


Efforts  to  Improve  Spiritual  Conditio7t  of  Romans.  125 

he  had  imagined  that  he  could  make  practical  Christians  of  all  the 
men  of  Eome,  as  well  of  those  who  with  Ciceruacchio  shouted 
themselves  hoarse  in  his  praise  beneath  the  windows  of  the  Quirinal 
or  around  his  carriage  in  the  streets,  as  those  who  had  just  been 
restored  to  freedom  and  the  endearment  of  home  by  the  amnesty,  or 
who  conspired  at  the  head-quarters  of  ^^the  sects. 

In  mid-November  a plenary  indulgence  was  proclaimed  in  their 
favor  especially,  and  a stirring  address  from  the  Holy  Father  called 
on  them  to  reconcile  themselves  with  God,  and  renew  their  souls  by 
the  reception  of  the  sacraments  whose  efficacy  they  had  experienced 
in  youth.  The  pulpits  of  the  city  were  occupied  by  the  most  famous 
preachers  of  Italy,  and  the  holiest  and  most  popular  priests  were 
called  to  labor  in  the  work  of  spiritual  renovation. 

But  Young  Italy  was  not  a leopard  that  could  change  its  spots ; 
and  the  very  men  whom  the  Pope  wanted  to  reach  and  benefit 
belonged,  one  and  all,  body  and  soul,  to  Young  Italy  and  the  Car- 
bonari. 

Another  event  occurring  at  this  time  in  the  north  of  Italy  helped 
to  complicate  still  more  the  formidable  difficulties  which  beset  the 
pontiff. 

When  the  Scientific  Congress  at  Genoa  adjourned,  it  was  agreed 
that  all  who  favored  the  scheme  of  national  independence  should 
meet  there  in  December  to  celebrate  the  centenary  of  Genoa’s  libera- 
tion from  Austrian  rule.  The  Piedmontese  government  had  too  great 
a stake  in  the  movement  about  to  be  inaugurated  to  think  for  a mo- 
ment of  forbidding  the  celebration,  though  it  looked  with  well- 
grounded  suspicion  on  the  principal  leaders.  But  Austria  was  the 
common  foe,  and  anything  which  contributed  to  deepen  and  spread 
that  feeling  was  sure  of  favor  in  the  court  of  Turin.  So  Genoa,  the 
Magnificent,  put  forth  all  her  wealth  and  splendor  and  patriotism 
on  the  glorious  occasion.  Every  Italian  heart  was  stirred  to  its 
depths  by  the  echoes  of  the  orations  delivered,  and  the  songs  sung 
in  Genoa,  even  though  some  hearts  dared  not  or  cared  not  to  join 
in  the  cry  raised  there  of  ^Htaly  for  the  Italians.” 

Eome  was  much  excited;  one  might  have  fancied  that  the  same 
impulse  moved  both  cities,  so  much  did  what  was  said  at  Eome,  in 
the  clubs,  in  the  streets,  and  in  the  press — now  become  freer  and 
bolder — resemble  the  utterances  of  the  enthusiastic  multitude  at 
Genoa.  Of  course  Austria  was  deeply  offended,  and  remonstrated 
through  its  ambassador  in  no  measured  terms.  The  Pope  was  not 


126 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


to  be  moved,  however,  and  replied  in  a tone  of  firm  thongh  respect- 
ful independence.  Some  unseemly  acts  had  been  committed  by  the 
numerous  and  sympathetic  meetings  held  in  the  Roman  States,  and 
some  imprudent  language  had  been  uttered  by  the  liberal  press.  A 
few  of  the  most  violent  actors  in  these  gatherings  were  arrested,  and 
legal  proceedings  were  begun  against  the  offending  journals ; but 
nothing  came  of  it,  and  Austrian  animosity  deepened  and  threat- 
ened. It  was  resolved  at  Vienna  that  the  slightest  pretext  afforded 
for  the  occupation  of  the  pontifical  fortresses  in  the  Romagna  and 
the  Marches  should  be  the  signal  for  an  Austrian  army  to  cross  the 
frontier. 

Meanwhile  this  avowed  resentment  of  ^'the  foreigners”  only  gave 
the  clubs  an  opportunity  of  causing  the  ‘^Hymn  of  Pius  IX.”  to  be 
sung  with  increased  enthusiasm. 


CHAPTER  XIL 


Geai?-d  Xew-Year’s  Demonsteatiok-  by  the  Clubs  ih  Hohor  op 
THE  Pope — Irritation  at  the  Delays  oe  the  Reforh:  Com- 
missions— Improvements  in  Legislation,  the  Liberty  of 
THE  Press,  the  Post-office — Only  Increase  the  Discon- 
tent OF  THE  Radicals — Protestations  of  the  Pope — En- 
cyclical ON  THE  Famine  in  Ireland— Honors  to  O’Con- 
nell’s Memory. 

Januaky-June,  1847. 

A MO  ST  rational  and  most  Christian  custom  prevailed  in  Rome 
from  the  last  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century,  that  on  the 
evening  of  December  31st,  at  sunset,  the  beautiful  50th  Psalm, 
Miserere,  should  be  chanted  as  a public  petition  for  mercy  on  the 
transgressions  of  the  year  about  to  close,  and  should  he  followed  by  a 
solemn  Te  Deum,  in  acknowledgment  of  all  the  blessings  received 
from  the  divine  goodness.  This  was  inaugurated  by  St.  Ignatius 
Loyola,  founder  of  the  Society  of  Jesus;  and  when  the  beautiful 
church  of  the  Gesii  was  terminated  in  1575,  all  that  was  most  dis- 
tinguished in  Rome  flocked  thither  on  the  last  evening  of  the  year  to 
join  in  the  pious  solemnity.  The  Popes  had  sanctioned  the  custom, 
and  further  conflrmed  it  by  going  in  state  to  the  Gesii  to  join  in  the 
common  thanksgiving. 

Pius  IX.  was  too  sincere  in  his  piety  not  to  keep  up  the  laudable 
custom,  and  the  persecutions  to  wEich  the  Jesuits  were  at  that 
moment  subjected  in  Switzerland  made  him  all  the  more  anxious  to 
be  present  with  his  people  on  this  occasion.  He  w^as  perfectly  aware 
that  the  storm  raised  against  the  Society  in  the  Catholic  cantons  of 
the  European  republic  was  created  by  Young  Europe  and  Mazzini, 
as  had  been  in  France  the  short-lived  tempest  excited  against  them 
in  1845  by  the  Thiers  interpellations.”  To  show  the  Jesuits  friend- 
ship, sympathy,  countenance,  or  even  toleration,  was  gall  and  vine- 
gar to  the  Roman  Liberals  of  almost  every  color.  At  the  end  of  their 

127 


128 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


scholar  year  in  the  preceding  August,  Pius  had  gone  to  the  Roman 
College  directed  hy  them,  to  distribute  diplomas  and  premiums,  and 
had  been  hissed  by  persons  in  the  crowd. 

On  the  31st  of  December,  the  clubs,  being  apprised  of  his  determi- 
nation, resolved  to  get  up  a magnificent  demonstration,  both  on  the 
evening  of  December  the  31st,  and  especially  on  New-Year’s  Day. 
AVe  say  demonstration — for  the  formidable  display  of  popular  pas- 
sion and  numbers  was  simply  calculated  to  impress  the  Pope  with 
tlic  conviction  that  the  people  who  raised  triumphal  arches  along  the 
streets,  and  sang  around  the  Quirinal  the  ‘^Hymn  of  Pius  IX.,”  and 
shouted  Viva  Pio  JSfono  solo  (Long  live  Pius  IX.  alone  !)  were  deter- 
mined he  should  know  how  little  they  loved  the  Jesuits  or  the  priests 
in  general,  though  it  pleased  them  now  to  sing  to  him  and  shout  for 
him  alone. 

Eight  days  afterward  the  French  ambassador.  Count  Rossi,  who 
watched  with  the  deepest  interest  the  progress  of  events  and  the 
course  of  public  feeling  in  Rome,  wrote  to  Prime  Minister  Guizot : 

The  Pope  has  lost  none  of  his  popularit3^  My  only  fear  is  that  he 
may  not  use  it  to  good  purpose,  thinking  that  he  may  slumber  on  it 
as  on  a bed  of  roses.  . . . The  country  waits,  but  with  mani- 

fest impatience.” 

The  circular  addressed  by  Cardinal  Gizzi  to  the  governors  of  prov- 
inces instructing  them  to  call  together  in  every  locality  the  most  in- 
fluential laymen  and  consult  them  on  the  reforms  and  improvements 
most  needed  there,  had  only  served  to  stir  up  or  to  strengthen  the 
general  desire  of  a lay  administration,  or  at  least  of  the  admission  of 
a large  number  of  laymen  into  every  department  of  government. 
The  delays  occasioned  by  the  framing  of  these  reports  and  their  ex- 
amination by  the  ministers,  the  still  greater  delays  that  occurred  in 
the  labor  of  the  commissions  on  legislation  and  government,  had 
an  irritating  effect  on  the  public,  especially  when  the  leaders  of 
public  opinion  had  determined  beforehand  that  nothing  short  of  a 
constitutional  and  parliamentary  government,  administered  by  lay- 
men, should  satisfy  them,  or  be  accepted  by  the  people  of  the  Roman 
States. 

Nevertheless  the  Pope  persisted  in  his  purpose  of  granting  not 
only  all  the  municipal  liberties  which  he  deemed  compatible  with 
the  peace  of  his  States  and  the  gradual  constitutional  reforms  that 
should  initiate  his  people  into  the  practice  of  self-government,  with- 
out touching  on  his  own  indefeasible  rights  as  sovereign,  or  endan- 


Improvements  in  Legislation. 


129 


gering  the  perfect  independence  of  his  spiritual  office  so  intimately 
connected  with  his  sovereignty. 

This  was  affirmed  continually  not  only  to  the  representatives  of 
France,  England,  and  Belgium,  who  sympathized  with  the  Holy 
Father’s  purpose,  hut  to  the  ambassadors  of  the  conservative  pov/ers, 
such  as  Austria,  Kussia,  and  even  Prussia  (at  that  period  at  least). 
The  most  distinguished  members  of  the  liberal  party  in  Italy  were 
also  made  acquainted  with  the  Pope’s  schemes,  and  were  almost 
unanimous  in  praising  his  courageous  determination  in  presence  of 
such  formidable  hostility. 

Toward  the  end  of  June,  when  the  complications  with  Austria 
were  becoming  daily  more  threatening,  and  the  Radicals  were 
clamoring  loudly  for  concessions  amounting  to  an  abdication  of 
the  Pope’s  sovereignty,  the  government  was  compelled  to  issue  a 
proclamation  stating,  in  substance,  the  reasons  for  the  cautious 
course  they  had  to  pursue  in  granting  reforms. 

^‘His  Holiness,”  says  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State,  ^^is  firmly 
resolved  to  pursue  his  course  of  improving  every  branch  of  the 
administration  requiring  reform ; but  he  is  no  less  resolved  to 
proceed  in  this  by  a prudent  and  well-calculated  gradation,  and 
within  the  limits  which  belong  essentially  to  the  sovereignty  and 
the  temporal  government  of  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church — a 
government  which  cannot  adopt  certain  forms  incompatible  with 
the  very  existence  of  that  sovereignty,  or,  at  least,  detrimental  to 
the  free  outward  and  independent  exercise  of  the  supreme  primacy 
in  spirituals  for  which  God  willed  that  the  Holy  See  should  have  a 
temporal  principality.  The  Holy  Father  cannot  forget  the  sacred 
duties  which  compel  him  to  preserve  intact  the  trust  that  has  been 
confided  to  him.” 

By  his  coronation  oath  he  had  bound  himself  to  preserve  the 
patrimony  of  the  Holy  See  in  its  integi’ity,  and  to  transmit  his 
temporal  sovereignty  intact  and  inviolate  to  his  successor;  this 
explains  the  word  trust”  in  the  last  sentence  quoted.  The 
secretary  then  proceeds  to  enumerate  the  principal  reforms  contem- 
plated, and  reproves  in  the  following  terms  the  impatience  of  the 
Radicals : 

••  The  Holy  Father  has  not  been  able  to  see  without  deep  regret 
fhat  certain  restless  minds  are  desirous  of  profiting  by  the  present 
state  of  things  to  promulgate  and  endeavor  to  establish  doctrines 
and  ideas  totally  opposed  to  his  maxims,  or  to  impose  upon  him 
9 


130 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


others  quite  irreconcilable  with  the  gentle  and  pacific  nature  and 
the  sublime  character  of  the  person  who  is  the  vicar  of  Christ,  the 
minister  of  a God  of  peace,  and  the  father  of  all  Catholics  in  every 
part  of  the  world ; or,  finally,  to  excite  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
by  speeches  and  writings,  desires  and  hopes  of  reforms  beyond  the 
limits  which  his  Holiness  has  indicated.” 

One  may  form  some  conception  of  the  activity  with  which  the 
Pope  urged  forward  the  ameliorations  deemed  most  urgent,  by 
recalling  the  principal  among  them  in  the  order  of  time.  On 
February  the  9th,  1847,  he  issued  a pardon  to  all  persons  imprisoned 
or  undergoing  criminal  prosecution  for  the  acts  of  violence  com- 
mitted in  the  corn-riots  of  the  preceding  autumn.  This  new  act  of 
clemency  caused  unbounded  joy.  Almost  simultaneously  appeared 
edicts  reforming  in  many  important  points  the  criminal  and  civil 
codes,  and  winning  the  applause  of  the  most  learned  and  the  most 
liberal.  In  March  (12th),  a still  more  important  law  was  published 
regulating  the  censorship  of  the  press  and  the  circulation  of  printed 
matter  through  the  post-office.  Though  this  law  did  not  grant  the 
almost  unlimited  freedom  demanded  by  the  ^ ^ advanced  Liberals  ” or 
Radicals,  it  ^^was  gi’atefully  accepted  by  the  large  and  influential 
section  of  the  community  who  were  content  to  move  slowly,  so  that 
they  did  advance  in  the  path  of  reform.  They  recognized  that  the 
censorship  was  useful  and  even  necessary  to  a government  and  an 
excitable  people  newly  called  to  liberty,  and  entertained  no  fear  of 
its  restrictions  being  interpreted  in  a narrow  sense.  By  this  law  the 
censorship,  instead  of  being  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  censors  of 
the  several  cities  or  provinces,  was  conducted  by  fixed  rules.  So 
much  freedom,  indeed,  was  allowed  that  the  Moderates  were  con- 
vinced that  the  edict  did  not,  as  had  been  asserted,  vail  the  design 
of  extinguishing  the  liberty  of  the  press.”*  So  this  very  measure 
of  liberty,  so  gratefully  received  by  the  moderate  Liberals,  and  so  well 
suited  to  a people  and  a government  advancing  toward  constitu- 
tional liberty,  had  been  denounced  as  a fraud  aiming  in  reality  at 
destroying  the  freedom  of  the  press  ! 

There  was  another  portion  of  the  law  equally  wise,  that,  namely, 
which  regulated  the  introduction  of  reading  matter  through  the  post- 
office.  When  one  remembers  that  the  secret  societies  had  for  years 
done  in  Italy  what  was  done  in  Spain,  not  only  used  the  post-office, 


* Legge,  i.  102. 


Only  Increase  the  Discontent  of  the  Radicals,  13 1 


but  the  custom-bonse  to  introduce  the  most  obscene  or  blasphemous 
writings  among  the  laboring  classes,  the  restrictions  enacted  by  the 
pontifical  law  must  be  deemed  not  only  praiseworthy  but  impera- 
tively necessary.  The  works  of  Voltaire,  of  Balzac,  and  Paul  de 
Kock  were  sent  to  Spain,  in  cheap  editions,  bearing  on  the  title- 
page  Imitation  de  Jesus- Christ,  or  Introduction  d la  Vie  Devote, 
passed  the  custom-house  by  the  guilty  connivance  of  the  officers, 
and  were  scattered  broadcast  at  a nominal  price  among  the  people. 
Similar  nefarious  practices  bad  been  for  a quarter  of  a century  em- 
ployed in  Italy,  and  by  the  men  who  were  band  and  glove  with  the 
apostles  of  the  ‘‘Christian  League”  and  “Evangelical  Alliance.” 

From  the  first  days  of  bis  reign  Pius  bad  shown  himself  friendly 
toward  an  enlightened  journalism  aiming  at  educating  the  popular 
mind  on  all  matters  that  could  promote  their  true  welfare  without 
encouraging  any  of  the  pet  humanitarian  notions  of  Radicalism. 
The  Contemporaneo,  destined  to  wield  so  decisive  an  influence  in 
upsetting  the  throne,  as  well  as  in  thwarting  the  reforms  of  the 
pontiff,  had  been  established  long  before  the  12th  of  March,  in  the 
moderate  liberal  interest,  and  was  generously  supported  by  the  Pope. 
The  greater  degree  of  freedom  granted  to  journalists  did  not  prompt 
the  editors  of  that  paper  to  any  imprudent  utterance  or  to  propose 
any  of  the  visionary  schemes  advocated  by  the  “advanced.”  But 
the  law  on  the  press  encouraged  the  latter  to  found  in  Rome  and  in 
the  provinces  a number  of  radical  papers  which  were  evidently  in- 
spired by  the  same  fanaticism,  and  which  with  one  accord  ceased 
not  to  persuade  the  Italian  people  that  they  could  expect  from 
their  present  rulers  nothing  but  delusive  promises.  They  echoei 
and  re-echoed  on  every  side  the  inflammatory  words  of  Mazzini : 

“Nothing  is  left  but  the  endeavor  to  agree  in  secret,  to  wrench 
the  bars  from  the  doors  and  windows  of  our  prison,  to  knock  down 
gates  and  gaolers,  that  we  may  breathe  the  fresh,  life-giving  air  of 
liberty,  the  air  of  God.” 

Not  a few  of  our  most  influential  journals  here  in  America,  even 
among  those  devoted  to  religion,  were  carried  away  by  the  apparent 
patriotic  and  religious  warmth  of  such  words  as  these,  believing  that 
in  abetting  the  cause  of  Mazzini  and  holding  up  to  the  admiration 
of  their  countrymen  the  cherished  objects  of  Young  Italy,  they  were 
advocating  the  best  interests  of  humanity  and  the  cause  of  him  who 
made  men  free  and  brothers. 

There  is  in  the  American  heart  a generous  and  disinterested  love 


132 


Life  of  Pope  Puis  IX, 


of  liberty  that  ever  prompts  to  bestow  its  benefits  on  every  portion 
of  the  human  race,  and  is  ever  ready  to  prove  its  sympathy  for  the 
liberty-loving  by  more  than  mere  words.  The  American  freeman, 
moreover,  inherits  with  this  noble  instinct  a reverence  for  religion, 
which  he  considers  the  very  corner-stone  of  the  social  edifice,  be- 
cause it  is  the  very  basis  on  which  all  authority  resides. 

Far  different  was  the  freedom  for  which  Mazzini  was  striving,  and 
far  beneath  the  pure  and  exalted  conception  of  the  sanction  which 
Christianity,  in  the  American  theory,  bestows  on  free  institutions, 
was  ^‘the  life-giving  air,  . . . the  air  of  God,”  which  Young 

Italy  would  allow  none  but  its  adepts  to  breathe. 

Fortunately  for  the  truth  of  history  we  can  complete  Mazzini’s 
vague  generalities  by  the  more  definite  writings  of  such  of  his  sub- 
ordinates as  Galletti  and  Eicciardi,  while  Cantalupo,  a Neapolitan, 
enables  us  to  see  at  a glance  how  Young  Italy  was  to  knock  down 
its  gaolers.” 

1.  The  society  (the  League  of  Young  Italy)  is  formed  for  the 
indispensable  destruction  of  the  governments  of  the  Peninsula,  and 
to  shape  all  Italy  into  a single  State,  republican  in  form.  . . . 

30.  Members  who  will  not  obey  the  orders  of  the  secret  society,  and 
those  who  reveal  its  mysteries,  shall  be  stabbed  to  death  without  re- 
mission. 31.  The  secret  tribunal  shall  pronounce  the  sentence,  ap- 
pointing one  or  two  associates  for  its  immediate  execution.  32.  The 
associate  who  refuses  to  execute  the  sentence  shall  be  held  as  one 
perjured,  and  as  such  put  to  death  on  the  spot.  33.  If  the  victim 
should  escape,  he  shall  be  pursued  into  every  place  he  goes  ; the  guilty 
one  shall  be  struck  by  an  invisible  hand,  were  he  sheltered  on  the 
bosom  of  his  mother  or  in  the  tabernacle  of  Christ.  ...  54.  Each 
tribunal  shall  be  competent  not  only  to  judge  guilty  members,  but 
to  put  to  death  all  persons  on  whom  it  may  pass  a capital  sentence.” 

There  was  not  a line  in  these  diabolical  documents,  di’a-wn  up, 
one  might  think,  in  hell,  under  the  inspiration  of  the  arch- 
enemy of  mankind,  and  of  all  that  is  gentle  and  beautiful  in  the 
moral  world,  that  was  not  known  to  the  sovereign  pontiff  and  his 
ministers,  not  a murderous  injunction  that  they  had  not  seen  carried 
out,  year  after  year,  in  Eome  and  the  disturbed  provinces,  though, 
as  we  shall  see,  the  atrocities  committed  wholesale  under  the  Eoman 
republic  of  1849  were  to  outstrip  all  preceding  excesses. 

‘‘Such  tactics,”  remarks  Legge,  “brought  their  proper  reward  in 
the  alienation  of  many  whose  reputation  was  thus  endangered,  and 


Reforms  Announced  by  the  Pope,  133 

who,  earnestly  aspiring  after  liberty,  scouted  more  than  Austrian 
bayonets  or  clerical  despotism  that  prostitution  of  all  honor,  moral- 
ity, and  truth  which  was  involved  in  their  fellowship  with  plotters 
of  this  cast.” 

While  the  newly-created  radical  press  was  denouncing  the  very 
law  which  gave  it  biidh,  and  the  sects”  of  which  it  was  the  mouth- 
piece were  perfecting  their  dark  plots  in  conformity  with  the  spirit 
and  letter  of  the  above  documents,  Pius  and  his  Secretary  of  State 
were  giving  form  to  their  design  of  initiating  their  people  into  the 
practice  of  parliamentary  government. 

On  the  15th  of  April  Gizzi  issued  a circular  to  the  governors  of 
the  Eoman  provinces  announcing  the  creation  of  a High  Council 
{Consulta),  composed  of  delegates  from  all  the  provinces,  chosen  by 
the  people,  and  who  were  to  assemble  in  Eome  at  the  beginning  of 
November.  This  body  was,  in  the  Pope’s  thought,  but  a temporary 
consultative  assembly,  who  could  advise  the  Holy  Father  and  the 
cardinals  forming  his  natural  council  on  all  essential  matters,  not 
only  of  the  needs  of  their  respective  localities,  and  the  municipal, 
industrial,  and  commercial  ameliorations  that  were  most  necessary 
and  urgent,  but  of  the  legislative  and  constitutional  changes  that 
could  be  introduced  without  danger  of  revolution  or  disorder. 

Between  mid- April  and  the  first  days  of  November  the  popula- 
tions in  every  province  would,  the  Pope  thought,  be  prepared  to 
make  the  most  of  this  step  in  advance,  and  discuss  in  a temperate 
and  orderly  spirit  the  means  of  co-operating  with  the  sovereign  in 
effecting  the  most  beneficial  reforms. 

Meanwhile  the  heart  of  the  chief  pastor  was  as  busy  with  the 
cares  of  every  portion  of  his  wide  flock  as  that  of  the  prince  was  with 
the  manifold  wants  of  his  people. 

At  the  western  extremity  of  Europe  an  ancient  people,  ever  faith- 
ful to  the  See  of  Peter,  as  it  had  been  to  the  creed  given  it  by  St. 
Patrick  thirteen  centuries  before,  was  enduring  the  awful  visita- 
tion of  famine,  with  such  an  accompaniment  of  horrors  as  to  thrill 
with  mingled  pity  and  indignation  the  whole  civilized  world ; with 
indignation  at  the  secular  misrule  that  left  a whole  people  de- 
pendent for  food  on  a single  vegetable,  and  with  pity  for  the  brave 
old  race  whose  inborn  virtues  shone  with  so  bright  a luster  amid  the 
accumulation  of  unremedied  ills. 

Pius,  touched  to  the  very  depths  of  his  soul  by  the  first  sad  tidings 
from  Ireland,  lost  not  a moment  in  discharging  his  duty  toward  her. 


134 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


On  the  25tli  of  March,  the  anniversary  of  the  Annunciation,  recall- 
ing the  day  when  the  Infinite  Mercy  became  incarnate  for  our  com- 
mon need ; the  Pope  addressed  himself  to  the  universal  Church,  pre- 
scribing a solemn  triduum,  or  public  prayers  during  three  successive 
days,  to  call  down  the  divine  protection  on  the  sufferers,  and  urging 
every  Catholic  throughout  the  world  to  aid  by  prompt  generosity  in 
ministering  relief. 

‘‘When  first  we  learned,”  are  the  words  of  the  Encyclical,  that 
the  kingdom  of  Ireland  was  afflicted  by  a great  dearth  of  corn  and  a 
scarcity  of  other  sorts  of  food,  and  that  the  nation  was  suffering  from 
a most  dreadful  complication  of  diseases  brought  on  by  famine,  we 
instantly  applied,  by  every  means  in  our  power,  to  relieve  the  suf- 
ferers. Therefore  we  had  prayers  offered  up  in  this  city,  and  en- 
couraged the  clergy  and  people  of  Rome,  as  well  as  the  stranger  so- 
journing with  us,  to  send  assistance  to  Ireland.” 

Already  (as  the  Encyclical  asserts  in  the  next  paragraph)  in  the 
first  days  of  February  the  Pope  had  a collection  made  in  Rome, 
heading  it  himself  with  a large  sum  (a  thousand  scudi),  and  sent  the 
amount  at  once  to  the  bishops  of  Ireland  for  immediate  distribution. 
On  the  8th  of  February  he  was  waited  upon  by  a committee  of  gen- 
tlemen— Irish,  English,  and  Scotch — with  an  address  of  thanks. 
^‘Were  the  means  at  my  command  more  ample,”  the  Holy  Father 
said  to  them  in  reply,  “I  should  not  limit  myself  to  the  little  I have 
done  in  a cause  which  has  my  warmest  sympathy.” 

But  we  return  fo  the  Encyclical : ‘‘What  effort  ought  we  not  to 
make  to  raise  up  a*  nation  crushed  by  such  a disaster,  when  we  know 
how  great  the  fidelity  of  the  Irish  people  and  clergy  is  and  has  al- 
ways been,  . . . how,  in  the  most  perilous  times  they  have  distin- 
guished themselves  by  their  constancy  in  professing  the  faith  ; how 
zealously  the  Irish  priesthood  has  labored  to  spread  that  faith  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth  ; and,  in  fine,  how  piously  and  earnestly  the  blessed 
Peter,  whose  dignity  (to  use  the  words  of  Leo  the  Great)  is  not 
lessened  in  an  unworthy  heir,  is  honored  by  the  Irish  nation  and 
reverenced  in  our  humble  person.” 

He  concludes  by  urging  on  the  hierarchy  that  while  the  entire 
Church  is  thus  prostrate  in  prayer  for  Ireland  before  the  Divine 
Mercy  they  should  remember  the  need  of  the  common  father, 
his  “ daily  instance,  the  solicitude  for  all  the  churches.”  “ It  is  still 
before  our  eyes  what  a furious  and  fearful  storm  has  arisen  against 
the  Church  ; it  pains  the  mind  to  recall  what  things  the  enemy  hath 


Formatiojt  of  a Council  of  Ministers.  135 

done  wickedly  in  the  sanctuary  (Psalm  Ixxiii.  3),  and  liow  fraught 
with  danger  are  the  present  designs  against  the  Lord  (Psalm  ii.  2), 
and  his  ChristC 

Already  Ireland’s  most  illustrious  living  son,  O’Connell,  stricken 
himself  to  death  by  the  utter  wretchedness  of  his  beloved  country 
and  by  the  failure  of  all  his  own  fondly  cherished  dreams  of  national 
independence  and  prosperity,  was  on  his  way  to  Rome.  We  shall 
soon  have  to  chronicle  his  last  moments,  and  the  splendid  testimony 
paid  to  his  v:orth  by  Pius  IX.  Let  us  not  interrupt  the  natural 
course  of  events  in  the  Eternal  City. 

Simultaneously  with  the  announcement  of  the  creation  of  the  High 
Council,  or  Consulta,  the  official  gazette  informed  the  public  of  the 
formation  of  a council  of  ministers — the  Secretary  of  State,  Cardinal 
Gizzi,  being  president;  Cardinal  Riario-Sforza,  minister  of  com- 
merce and  industry ; Cardinal  Massimo,  minister  of  public  works ; 
Monsignor  Lavinio  Spada,  minister  of  war ; Monsignor  Antonelli, 
treasurer,  and  Monsignor  Grassellini,  governor  of  Rome. 

It  was  a coalition  cabinet,  not  a promising  one  even  in  an  old 
constitutional  government  where  things  have  to  right  themselves 
without  disturbance  to  public  affairs  or  revolution  to  the  State ; it 
was  the  very  worst  kind  of  cabinet  to  begin  with  among  a people  so 
excitable  as  the  Romans,  so  inexperienced  in  constitutional  govern- 
ment, and  so  unreasonably  impatient  of  all  delays  and  tentatives 
under  the  chronic  excitement  and  distrust  so  scientifically  nursed  by 
the  Radicals. 

Gizzi  and  Antonelli  were  the  only  ministers  who  bore  the  reputa- 
tion of  liberality  in  politics ; the  others  were  undisguised  partisans 
of  the  conservative  policy  of  the  preceding  reign.  The  list  of  names 
was  read  with  a fierce  burst  of  anger  and  disappointment  by  the 
Radicals,  who  now  began  to  be  designated  as  the  Exalted,  a term 
which  they  resented.  Even  the  most  moderate  men  could  not  con- 
ceal their  dissatisfaction,  nor  help  the  forebodings  of  ill  which  all 
they  heard  and  saw  and  felt  tended  to  strengthen  day  by  day. 

Gizzi  was  quite  conscious  of  the  weakness  of  this  ministry,  and  of 
the  loss  of  popularity  to  himself  which  must  result  from  his  accept- 
ing the  presidency  of  a body,  in  which  the  majority  were  in  open  hos- 
tility to  the  principles  he  advocated  and  the  measures  of  reform  so 
anxiously  expected  by  the  public. 

Antonelli  had  already  been  minister  of  finance  under  Gregory 
XVI.,  and  his  business  capacity  was  known  to  all ; nor  was  his  sym- 


136 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


pathy  for  tlie  Tvise  and  gradual  reforms  inaugurated  by  Pius  IX.  a 
secret  to  any.  He  came,  however,  of  a comparatively  obscure  family, 
being  a native  of  Sonnino,  an  ill-famed  town  at  the  southern  extrem- 
ity of  the  papal  territory,  about  five  miles  from  Fossanuova,  where 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas  died.  The  village,  perched  on  an  almost  inac- 
cessible crag,  surrounded  by  precipices  and  deeply  wooded  ravines, 
was  formerly  a nest  of  freebooters,  and  had  to  be  demolished  to  root 
out  the  pernicious  brood.  They  returned  to  their  rocks,  however, 
and  covered  with  olive  trees  and  other  fruitful  culture  every  avail- 
able crevasse  along  the  dizzy  slopes.  Of  that  bold  and  hardy  race, 
and  from  that  eagle’s  nest  among  the  southern  hills,  came  Giacomo 
Antonelli,  destined  to  be  the  most  conspicuous  figure  beside  the 
long-lived  pontiff  in  this  stormy  pontificate. 

Being  of  such  a stock  and  from  such  a place,  Antonelli  had  no 
following  among  the  proud  old  Eoman  nobility.  He  was  to  make 
his  way  to  eminence  through  their  crowded  ranks  by  the  sheer  force 
of  his  own  ability,  as  many  a man  of  still  more  obscure  parentage 
had  done  before  him,  in  a city  where  the  highest  honors  belong  to 
the  highest  merit. 

The  formation  of  the  ministry  and  the  creation  of  the  Consulta 
had  come  upon  the  Eoman  public  just  when  the  clubs  had  com- 
pleted their  preparations  for  a grand  national  festival,  to  be  held  on 
April  the  16th,  in  memory  of  the  founding  of  Eome.  This  celebra- 
tion offered  Young  Italy  an  excellent  pretext  for  assembling  in 
Eome  not  only  the  Italians  most  renowcd  in  the  world  of  science  and 
letters,  but  their  own  most  skillful  and  unscrupulous  agents.  They 
were  carrying  out  with  consummate  ability  the  scheme  formed  at 
Genoa  in  the  early  autumn,  perfected  there  in  December,  and  now 
to  be  proclaimed  with  a more  telling  emphasis  in  Eome,  once  the 
capital  of  Italy  and  of  the  world. 

The  idea  was  the  independence  and  unity  of  their  country.  The 
festival  was  held  on  the  site  of  the  baths  of  Titus.  . . . The 

real  purpose  was  to  talk  politics ; and  the  cautious  d’Azeglio,  the 
opponent  of  popular  gatherings,  so  far  forgot  his  reserve  as  to  address 
the  crowd — some  20,000  in  number — and  to  refer  to  the  idea  up- 
permost in  every  mind : the  expulsion  of  the  Austrians — or,  as  he 
adroitly  expressed  it,  ^the  Goths,  Huns,  and  other  Vandals’ — from 
Italy.  His  remarks  elicited  thunders  of  applause,  but  the  newspapers 
which  published  them  were  suppressed.  For  four  hours  they  were 
gi-eedily  devoured  in  every  coffee-house  and  club  in  Eome ; then  the 


Resentment  of  Austria  Increasing,  137 

agents  of  tlie  police  presented  tliemselves  at  every  house  where  the 
Contemporaneo  was  supposed  to  he  taken  in,  and  demanded  Uhe 
supplement  of  speeches ; ’ at  the  post-office,  every  copy  was  stopped. 
This  was  regarded  as  a concession  to  the  Austrian  minister,  and 
inflamed  the  popular  suspicion  of  Gizzi,  which  had  been  already 
aroused  by  a futile  attempt  to  restrain  the  expression  of  public 
opinion  in  the  journals  of  Rome,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Count  de 
Lutzow,  who  threatened  to  demand  his  passport.* 

Only  a few  days  before  this  significant  event  some  papers  were 
seized  by  the  police  on  a pretended  political  refugee,  who  was  in 
reality  an  Austrian  spy,  which  contained  lists  of  influential  persons 
in  Rome  and  about  the  papal  court  secretly  pledged  to  support 
Austria  and  to  oppose  to  the  utmost  the  liberal  reforms  of  the  Pope. 
They  revealed  also  the  intrigues  set  on  foot  or  encouraged  by  the 
Austrian  ambassador  to  thwart  the  pontifical  policy.  When  Count 
de  Lutzow  was  spoken  to  on  the  matter  he  refused  every  explanation, 
and  to  Cardinal  Gizzi’s  notes  of  inquiry  or  expostulation  no  reply 
whatever  was  given.  The  affair  was  noised  abroad  in  Rome,  and 
caused  intense  and  universal  excitement. 

The  Pope  thereupon  sent  for  the  Austrian  ambassador,  and  spoke 
to  him  in  dignified  but  firm  language  of  his  right  to  seek  the  welfare 
of  his  subjects  by  whatever  means  his  judgment  approved  after  hav- 
ing been  advised  by  his  own  counselors ; and  concluded  by  saying, 
as  the  ambassador  knelt  for  the  papal  benediction,  give  you  my 
blessing ; but  you  may  write  to  your  sovereign  that  if  he  expects  to 
intimidate  me  he  is  greatly  mistaken.’’ 

The  resentment  of  Austria,  and  her  just  alarm  at  the  ill-concealed 
designs  of  Piedmont  and  the  open  threats  of  Young  Italy,  continued 
thenceforward  to  grow  and  spread  like  a thunder-cloud,  till  it  burst 
in  June  over  the  Papal  States  by  the  invasion  of  the  Legations  and 
the  Marches.  More  even  than  the  intrigues  of  Young  Italy  this 
fatal  step  marred  all  the  designs  of  Pius  IX.,  and  led  to  the  triumph 
of  Mazzini  first,  and  of  Piedmont  afterward. 

The  Roman  correspondent  of  the  London  Times  wrote  on  March 
the  27th  : There  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  cabinet  of  Vienna 
is  eager  to  grasp  at  the  slightest  pretext  for  an  armed  interven- 
tion. ...  If  such  a pretext  do  not  occur,  it  is  but  too  probable 
that  it  may  be  created ; and  any  disturbances  calculated  to  lead  to 


* Legge,  i.  115,  116. 


Life  nf  Pope  Pius  IX, 


^38 

Buch  a result  would  at  once  betray  their  insidious  origin.  Meanwhile 
the  Pope  is  menaced  in  Austrian  notes,  which  have  sometimes  trans- 
gressed the  limits  of  policy  and  decorum,  and  the  minor  princes  of 
Italy  are  terrified  by  extravagant  intimations  of  hostile  designs  en- 
tertained against  them  by  the  national  party,  headed  by  the  Pope 
and  the  house  of  Savoy,  in  order  to  persuade  them  that  the  only  safe- 
guard is  in  the  Austrian  army.” 

Amid  the  gathering  of  the  storm  which  threatened  so  darkly  from 
the  Quadrilateral  in  the  Lombardo- Venetian  kingdom,  the  popu- 
larity of  Cardinal  Gizzi  was  fast  dying  out,  in  spite  of  the  courageous 
and  energetic  support  given  him  by  the  Pope,  while  Pius  himself 
seemed  to  grow  more  popular  than  ever.  One  symptom,  however,  in 
these  feverish  fits  of  Eoman  enthusiasm,  as  April  faded  into  May,  was 
the  ominous  cry,  now  repeated  with  greater  frequency.  Viva  Pio  Nono 
solo  ! And  as  the  Jesuits  were  accused,  without  a shadow  of  proof, 
of  favoring  all  the  Austrian  intrigues,  with  this  cry,  so  offensive 
to  the  Pope,  was  continually  joined  that  other,  ^^Down  with  the 
Jesuits!” 

On  May  the  5th  falls,  in  the  Roman  calendar,  the  feast  of  the  Holy 
Pope  Pius  V.,  whose  fieet,  aided  by  those  of  Spain  and  Venice,  ov(.t- 
threw  forever  the  Mohammedan  supremacy  at  Lepanto.  It  was  the 
patronal  festival  of  the  reigning  Pope,  and  the  clubs,  for  several 
weeks  in  advance  of  the  day  itself,  had  set  Ciceruacchio  and  his  bat- 
talions of  agitators  to  work  up  the  Roman  enthusiasm  to  the  highest 
point — collecting  money  and  making  all  needful  dispositions  for  the 
most  brilliant  display  yet  witnessed  in  honor  of  their  sovereign. 

The  sovereign  had  been  informed  in  time  of  these  preparations, 
and  issued  a note  to  the  citizens  calling  on  them  to  show  their  love 
for  his  person  by  abstaining  from  the  proposed  festivities,  and  by  be- 
stowing the  moneys  collected,  and  those  they  intended  to  devote  to 
the  celebration,  in  a general  distribution  of  bread  and  other  pro- 
visions among  the  suffering  poor.  ‘‘Sixty  gentlemen  organized  a 
combined  effort  among  the  affluent  citizens,  and  in  a few  hours  sixty 
thousand  bread-tickets  were  distributed  to  the  people.  The  funds 
raised  not  being  then  exhausted,  the  remainder  was  applied  to  the 
establishment  of  an  infant-school  for  the  children  of  the  lower  class.” 

What  could  not  such  a sovereign  have  effected  with  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  such  a people  ! What  a glorious  work  of  regeneration 
this  people  might  have  accomplished — peacefully,  unbloodily- —under 
the  leadership  of  this  great  fatherly  soul ! 


CHAPTER  XIIL 


The  Pope’s  Populakity  uksought — Pastokal  Labors  ih  be- 
half OF' THE  Rohah  People— Obsequies  ahd  Pahegtric  of 
O’CoHHELL — Efforts  to  restore  Diplomatic  Relations 
BETWEEN"  Rome  and  England  marred  by  Palmerston’s 
anti-Catholic  Policy — Plots  and  Counter-plots  in  Rome 

DURING  THE  SUMMER — FeSTIYITIES  ON  JUNE  16TH  AND  17tH — 

Various  Causes  of  Agitation  and  Discontent — Sanfe- 
DiSTS,  OR  ^‘Holy  Faith  Men” — Creation  of  Civic  Guard 
PROPOSED  : DECREED  FOR  ROME  BY  THE  PoPE — CARDINAL 

Gizzi  Resigns  : succeeded  by  Cardinal  Ferretti — In- 
creasing Turbulence  in  Rome — The  supposed  Conserva- 
tive Conspiracy — Rome  ruled  by  Mob  Law — Invasion  of 
THE  Papal  States  by  Austria — Exceptional  Position  and 
Policy  of  the  Papacy — Understood  and  supported  by 
Guizot  alone  : his  Efforts  paralyzed  by  Palmerston. 


January- July,  1847. 


N impression  has  long  prevailed  that  Pius  IX.  studiously  sought 


popularity  among  the  masses  by  laying  aside  the  reserve  and 
stately  etiquette  which  had  regulated  before  his  time  the  manners  of 
the  court  of  Rome  and  its  pontiffs.  It  were  utterly  to  misapprehend 
both  the  man’s  nature,  his  antecedents,  and  his  most  laudable  inten- 
tions, to  conceive  of  him  as  one  going  down  into  the  street  to  court 
the  good-will  or  the  applause  of  the  crowd. 

He  continued,  from  the  first  day  of  his  taking  possession  of  the 
Quirinal,  the  priestly  habits  which  had  distinguished  him  in  his  re- 
lations toward  his  fiock  at  San  Michele,  Spoleto,  and  Imola.  It  was 
not  to  win  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  laboring  and  middle 
classes  that  he  went  about  among  his  people,  visiting  schools,  hos- 
pitals, workshops,  convents,  loneliest  and  most  squalid  streets,  ex- 
amining everything  with  a scrutinizing  eye,  not  for  purposes  of 
mere  curiosity,  but  to  encourage,  to  console,  to  improve  and  reform. 


139 


140 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


The  applause  of  the  multitude  came  to  him  as  he  went,  like  the 
Good  Shepherd,  unweariedly  about  his  errand  of  mercy ; it  was,  at 
first,  grateful  to  him,  because  it  made  him  hope  that  his  people 
understood  him  and  would  work  with  him,  like  one  man,  in  remedy- 
ing the  many  ills  which  the  entire  community,  sovereign  and  sub- 
jects, had  inherited  from  the  fatal  calamities  and  wrongs  of  the  past. 
If,  in  the  first  months  of  his  pontificate,  his  heart  did  feel  a thrill  of 
delight  at  hearing  himself  acclaimed  as  the  savior  of  his  country,  it 
was  an  unselfish  delight,  a joy  rising  in  the  heart  of  the  patriot, 
priest,  and  pontiff  at  the  prospect  of  reconciling  his  beloved  Italy 
with  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  aspirations  of  the  purest,  loftiest 
patriotism  with  the  deepest  devotion  of  the  Christian  priest  to  the 
most  sacred  interests  of  Christ’s  immortal  religion. 

When  it  became  but  too  apparent  that  the  hopes  and  sentiments 
of  the  people  were  turned  by  the  common  enemy  in  a wrong  direc- 
tion, and  that  wicked  men  would  use  his  generosity  and  influence  to 
obtain  their  own  ends,  he  resolved  to  address  himself  directly  to  the 
misguided  crowd  and  to  appeal  to  their  better  nature. 

The  eloquent  Father  Ventura  de  Kaulica  had  been  called  to  Romo 
to  second,  with  all  the  influence  wielded  by  his  own  gi’eat  talents, 
and  by  the  entire  Order  of  which  he  was  head,  the  cause  of  rational 
liberty  and  gradual  reform.  The  Pope  desired  that  the  preachers 
most  renowned  for  their  saintly  life  as  well  as  their  oratorical  power 
should  everywhere,  on  every  available  occasion,  instruct  the  people 
in  the  fundamental  duties  and  virtues  of  their  condition,  inculcat- 
ing on  all  the  necessity  of  refraining  from  all  that  could  excite  politi- 
cal passions,  from  the  violation  of  the  neighborly  charities  of  life,  and 
the  infraction  of  the  public  peace.  He  never  ceased  to  repeat  that 
with  peace  and  order  and  the  union  of  all  hearts  and  minds,  the 
wrongs  of  Italy  should  soon  be  righted. 

One  day  in  January  the  select  and  crowded  audience  which  was 
wont  to  come  from  every  part  of  Rome  to  listen  to  the  learned  and 
patriotic  Ventura,  was  filled  with  astonishment  to  see  the  Pope  him- 
self suddenly  ascending  the  pulpit  steps.  Had  the  days  of  Leo  the 
Great  and  the  still  greater  Gregory  returned,  when  Christ’s  vicar 
found  time  to  instruct,  himself  in  person,  the  impoverished  and  op- 
pressed Romans  on  the  Gospel  truths  and  virtues  and  promises  ? In 
very  deed  the  times  on  which  the  Ninth  Pius  had  fallen  were,  in 
more  than  one  respect,  more  calamitous  than  the  age  when  the  ’elo- 
quent first  Leo  went  forth  from  Rome  to  the  banks  of  the  Ticino  to 


Pastoral  Labors  in  Behalf  of  the  Ro7nan  People,  141 

stop  Attila  and  his  Huns  in  their  unresisted  course  of  victory  ; Pius 
had  to  remedy  ills  within  the  Italian  Peninsula  more  terrible  than 
the  repeated  famine  that  called  forth  Gregory’s  unbounded  liberality, 
and  to  meet  foes  more  powerful  and  less  God-fearing  than  the  rival 
armies  of  Greeks  from  Constantinople,  or  barbarians  from  the  Rhine 
or  the  Vistula. 

As  the  crowded  church  listened,  spell-bound,  to  the  sweet  and 
sympathetic  tones  of  the  august  preacher,  every  word  fell  deep  into 
mind  and  heart.  He  thanked  them  for  their  repeated  manifestations 
of  loyalty  and  affection  toward  himself,  for  the  revived  reverence  of 
Rome  for  the  chair  of  Peter,  which  made  her  the  head  and  center  of 
the  moral  world,  and  of  which  he  was  the  most  unworthy  occupant. 
They  might  trust  him  in  his  unbounded  solicitude  for  their  every 
interest,  temporal  and  spiritual ; his  deeds  should  be  the  best  evi- 
dence of  his  fatherly  love  of  them  and  theirs.  But  it  was  before 
and  above  all  else  the  eternal  welfare  of  their  souls  for  which  he  was 
bound  to  care.  Souls  at  peace  with  God  brought  peace  with  them 
to  their  homes,  and  kept  peace  inviolate  with  their  neighbor.  How 
was  it  with  their  souls  ? In  vain  would  he  endeavor  to  reform  the 
State,  or  correct  its  abuses,  if  its  citizens  continued  to  cherish  in 
their  hearts  the  vices  which,  in  begetting  private  immorality  and 
domestic  disorder,  tended  continually  to  increase  the  mass  of  public 
corruption  and  civil  decay  and  strife. 

It  was,  in  truth,  Leo  and  Gregory  once  more  laying  down  the  law 
of  heavenly  love  and  supernatural  life  for  these  turbulent  Romans, 
whose  very  nearness  to  the  person  of  the  supreme  pastor  has  always 
seemed  to  render  them  heedless  of  his  teaching.  On  this  occasion, 
at  least,  the  audience  assembled  at  S.  Andrea  della  Valle  was  deeply 
moved,  and  bore  away  to  their  homes  generous  resolutions  of  self- 
sacrifice  and  self-improvement.  But  they  were  not  the  people  whom 
the  Pope  would  have  liked  to  reach.  These,  too,  on  hearing  of 
what  was  happening  in  the  neighboring  church,  flocked  thither  to 
catch  the  words  of  the  preacher,  and  as  the  commotion  spread 
rapidly  with  the  strange  news,  there  was  a great  multitude  outside 
when  the  Pope  was  leaving  the  sacred  edifice.  There  was  shouting, 
and  kneeling  for  the  papal  blessing,  and  people  rushing  in  a mighty 
stream  after  the  carriage  wLich  bore  away  to  the  Quirinal  the  sover- 
eign who  yearned  to  waste  his  life  in  the  endeavor  to  elevate  them, 
the  good  shepherd  who  would  give  a thousand  lives  to  save  them 
from  the  approach  of  revolution. 


142  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 

And  so  Pius  labored,  hoboed,  waited,  through  these  first  months  of 
1847. 

At  the  end  of  May  another  and  a more  excited  audience  filled 
that  same  church  of  S.  Andrea. 

O’Connell,  to  distract  his  mind  from  the  thought  of  Ireland,  pros- 
trate beneath  the  grip  of  hunger  and  typhus  fever,  as  well  as  to  • 
express  in  person  his  gratitude  to  Pius  IX.,  had  undertaken  a pil- 
gi-image  to  Rome.  On  his  way  through  France  he  received  the 
affectionate  homage  of  all  that  was  most  illustrious  in  Church  and 
State  ; he  represented  the  enlightened  union  of  religion  and  liberty. 
He  had  rendered  his  country  and  the  Catholics  of  Great  Britain 
services  which  many  did  not  then  appreciate,  but  which  have  been 
since  then  fully  and  generously  acknowledged.  His  were  not  the 
principles  that  guided  the  aspirations,  the  writings,  and  conduct  of 
the  patriotic  laymen  of  Italy.  Nevertheless  it  is  impossible  to  say 
what  effect  O’Connell’s  presence  might  have  had  on  the  liberal 
leaders  in  Rome,  had  providence  permitted  him  to  reach  that  city 
alive  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  intellectual  vigor. 

He  sickened  on  touching  Italian  soil,  and  after  lingering  for  some 
days  at  Genoa,  breathed  his  last  there  on  the  15th  of  May,  not, 
however,  before  he  had  directed  that  his  heart  should  be  borne  to 
the  goal  of  his  pilgrimage,  and  repose  near  the  shrines  of  the  holy 
apostles. 

It  was  a touching  close  to  a noble  career,  purified  and  elevated  by 
faith.  He  had  practiced  it  all  his  life  with  the  simple  piety  of  a 
child  ; it  shed  a hallowed  luster  on  his  last  hours,  and  edified  the  beau- 
tiful city,  once  so  Catholic  and  so  heroic,  and  now  a hot-bed  of  anti- 
Catholic  conspiracies  and  cowardly  plots  of  wholesale  assassination. 

The  Pope  had  resolved  to  honor  the  great  Catholic  and  Liberal 
in  the  most  public  manner,  and  was  anxiously  looking  out  for  his  ar- 
rival, when  the  news  of  his  alarming  illness,  first,  and  then  of 
his  death,  filled  him  with  sincere  grief.  The  message  bearing  the 
dying  request  of  ‘^The  Liberator”  moved  Pius  to  tears;  and  he 
gave,  forthwith,  directions  that  on  the  arrival  of  the  precious  relic  in 
Rome,  solemn  obsequies  should  be  celebrated  in  the  Church  of  S. 
Andrea  della  Valle.  It  was  there  that  the  solemn  three  days’  devo- 
tions-were  offered  up  in  February  for  suffering  Ireland,  the  Pope 
himself  going  there  to  pray  for  his  afflicted  children  far  away,  and 
the  eloquent  Ventura  finding  for  their  heroism  thrilling  words  of 
sympathy  and  praise. 


Obsequies  and  Panegyric  of  G ConnelL 


143 


It  was  here  that  the  Holy  Father  would  have  a requiem  sung  for 
the  Irish  patriot  such  as  is  celebrated  for  royal  personages,  sending 
the  choicest  vestments  from  his  own  chapel  and  appointing  Father 
Ventura  to  deliver  the  funeral  oration. 

All  that  was  most  distinguished  in  Rome  was  present,  and  many 
of  the  most  illustrious  and  moderate  of  Italian  patriots  came  from 
afar  to  show  their  reverence  for  the  dead,  and  to  honor  the  cause  of 
liberty  in  one  of  her  most  blameless  champions.  The  preacher  be- 
longed to  that  classs  of  patriot  churchmen  which  at  that  time 
counted  Gioberti — as  yet  a believer  in  the  Papacy — and  Rosmini,  the 
founder  of  the  Order  of  Charity,  and  Gioherti’s  rival  in  philosophi- 
cal science.  Their  cherished  idea  was  an  Italy  freed,  in  her  length 
and  breadth,  from  foreign  domination,  and  confederated  under  her 
own  native  princes,  with  the  Pope  as  her  presiding  and  animating 
power,  and  all  her  peoples  enjoying  the  fullness  of  political  rights 
with  the  fullness  of  religious  liberty. 

It  was  a fascinating  ideal,  leading  captive  noble  intellects  and 
generous  hearts ; and  to  them,  as  to  all  the  lovers  of  this  union  of 
freedom  with  religion,  Ventura  addressed  the  splendid  panegyric 
which  moved  all  Italy,  and  found  a response  in  every  civilized 
country. 

The  liberator  of  the  Irish  Catholics,  he  said,  had  come,  at  the  end 
of  a life  devoted  to  the  advocacy  of  fredom,  and  the  emancipation  of 
the  peoples  by  peaceful  and  unbloody  means,  to  do  homage  to  Pius 
IX.,  who  would  be  the  liberator  of  Italy.  Italians  should  aid  the 
Pope  and  co-operate  with  him  unitedly  and  fearlessly  in  carrying  out 
his  designs  for  the  increase  of  freedom,  while  imitating  faithfully 
the  Christian  virtues  of  O’Connell. 

Co-operation  with  Pius  IX.  the  Italians  interpreted  in  their  own 
sense  ; the  preacher’s  magnificent  eulogy  only  fired  their  souls  with 
the  resolve  to  have  a free  Italy.  As  to  O’Connell’s  virtues  and  his 
deep  Christian  spirit,  few  Italian  patriots  were  there  who  cared  to 
imitate  them. 

Conservative  public  opinion  looked  upon  this  funeral  pageant  and 
the  thrilling  utterances  of  the  great  Theatine  as  a political  demon- 
stration more  significant  and  far-reaching  than  the  festivities  in  the 
Bath-s  of  Titus.  It  was  another  challenge  to  Austria,  sounding  in 
trumpet-tones  from  the  Capitoline  Hill  to  the  Alps. 

The  anniversary  of  the  Pope’s  election  was  now  approaching,  and 
a month  later  fell  the  anniversary  of  the  Act  of  Amnesty.  Young 


144 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Italy  determined  that  both  should  be  commemorated  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  make  their  associates  throughout  Italy  and  Europe 
understand  that  '^the  party  of  action”  ruled  Rome  and  the  Pope. 

In  England  as  well  as  in  America  the  public  press  was  loud  and 
unanimous  in  praise  of  Pius  IX.  His  eulogy  was  pronounced  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  project  was  seriously  entertained  of 
having  an  English  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Rome,  and  a repre- 
sentative of  the  Holy  See  at  the  court  of  St.  James.  Points  of  eti- 
quette, apparently,  prevented  both  governments  from  arriving  at  a 
satisfactory  basis  of  settlement.  But  there  were  other  and  deeper 
reasons. 

TVhatever  doubt  may  have  existed  at  that  time  of  the  criminal 
action  of  Lord  Palmerston  in  fomenting  a civil  and  religious  war  in 
Switzerland,  the  fact  of  his  having  been  the  instigator  of  this  cause- 
less feud  is  now  questioned  by  none.  The  Catholic  cantons  had 
placed  their  colleges  under  the  care  of  the  Jesuits,  believing  these 
priests  to  be  the  safest  and  most  enlighted  guides  they  could  select 
for  their  sons.  Lord  Palmerston,  who  had  seen  from  his  boyhood 
the  English  Jesuits  of  Stoneyhurst  and  the  Irish  Jesuits  of  Clon- 
gowes  Wood  intrusted  with  the  education  of  the  very  flower  of  the 
Catholic  youth  of  both  islands,  needed  no  one  to  tell  him  that  the 
Jesuits  were  safe  guides,  enlightened  teachers,  honorable  gentlemen, 
and  loyal  citizens.  Of  this  he  never  hinted  a doubt. 

But  on  the  European  continent  the  hatred  of  the  secret  societies 
had  made  of  the  name  of  Jesuit  a watchword  of  religious  strife  and 
political  exclusion.  It  was  Palmerston’s  interest  to  foment  political 
as  well  as  religious  animosities.  France,  Austria,  and  Protestant 
Prussia  supported  the  Catholic  cantons,  or  at  least  approved  of 
their  conduct.  But  Palmerston  was  determined  that  English  Prot- 
estant influence  should  be  supreme  in  Switzerland.  He  got  up 
the  war,  directed  it,  and  ended  it,  to  suit  his  own  purpose,  to  thwart 
the  designs  of  the  continental  powers,  and  to  expel  from  Switzerland 
the  men  whom  he  dared  not  to  asperse  or  to  molest  in  England  or 
Ireland. 

He  thereby  kept  in  his  own  hand  the  control  of  the  secret  societies 
and  of  their  ally  the  Protestant  Propaganda.  In  1847  he  profited 
by  the  first  informal  overtures  about  restoring  diplomatic  relations 
with  the  Holy  See,  to  send  Lord  Minto  to  Italy  on  a semi-ofiicial 
mission  to  the  Italian  States.  Ostensibly  the  envoy  was  to  go  to 
Rome  and  ofler  the  Pope  the  support  and  advice  of  the  British  gov- 


Plots  and  Counter- Plots  in  Rome,  145 

eminent  in  carrying  out  Ins  intended  reforms,  which  would  he  only 
a compliance  with  the  recommendations  made  to  Gregory  XVI.  in 
1831-32  by  the  five  great  powers. 

To  Eome  Lord  Minto  went  as  late  as  possible  ; hut  he  tarried  in 
Piedmont  and  Tuscany,  while  the  Kadicals  in  Eome  were  maturing 
their  plans  for  compelling  the  Holy  Father  to  declare  war  against 
Austria,  and  wresting  from  his  grasp  the  control  of  his  own  goYern- 
ment.  At  Turin,  Genoa,  and  Florence  Lord  Minto  was,  on  his  ar- 
rival, beset  with  the  leaders  of  the  party  of  action.”  He  remained 
in  their  hands  during  the  entire  period  of  his  stay  in  Italy,  without 
even  taking  pains  to  conceal  his  sympathies,  feted  in  Eome  by  the 
clubs,  and  lionized  by  Ciceruacchio,  for  whose  little  boy  he  composed 
some  pretty  patriotic  verses. 

Such  was  the  man  sent,  in  a half-official,  half-mysterious  character, 
to  advise  Pius  IX.  how  he  was  to  carry  out  the  impertinent  recom- 
mendations made  to  him  in  1832  by  five  powers,  two  of  which  were 
Protestant,  one  Orthodox  Greek,  one  just  created  in  France  by  an 
anti-Catholic  revolution,  and  one  (Austria),  nominally  Catholic, 
but  wholly  impregnated  with  the  schismatic  and  domineering  spirit 
of  J oseph  II. 

These  were  the  friends”  of  the  pontifical  government,  when 
the  midsummer  of  1847  brought  round  the  much-feared  anniver- 
saries. Such  the  men  from  whom  alone  Cardinal  Gizzi  and  his 
master  could  expect  countenance,  sympathy,  and  support  in  their 
gigantic  task  of  reform. 

During  May  and  June  the  most  exciting  rumors  crossed  each 
other  in  Eome,  and  fiew  from  hilltop  to  hilltop  throughout  Italy. 
It  was  said,  and  published  by  the  liberal  press  of  every  shade  of 
opinion,  that  the  ^^Gregorians”  and  the  Jesuits  were  busily  con- 
spiring against  Pius  IX.  ; that  he  had  narrowly  escaped  assassination 
at  the  hands  of  a Capuchin  monk,  the  fanatical  tool  of  a desperate 
faction ; and  that  the  French  ambassador,  Eossi,  had  barely  saved 
the  Pope’s  life.  That  Eossi  was  at  that  time  weak  enough  to  bo 
imposed  upon  by  some  unscrupulous  intriguers,  and  to  have  given 
by  his  conduct  some  color  to  this  absurd  report,  there  is  good 
ground  to  believe.  He  lived  long  enough,  however,  to  find  out  that 
the  assassins  most  to  be  feared  were  not  monks  or  priests,  though 
never  so  fanatical. 

On  June  the  17th  upward  of  20,000  men  fiocked  to  Eome  from 
every  part  of  the  Papal  States,  without  counting  the  multitudes  who 


146 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


came  from  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  capital.  During 
three  nights  and  two  days  the  festivities  were  kept  up,  the  Jewish 
population,  more  sincere  in  their  gratitude  than  the  Christians, 
sparing  no  labor  or  expense  to  decorate  or  illuminate  their  dwellings. 
The  songs  composed  for  the  occasion  were  from  the  pen  of  Sterhini, 
now  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Young  Italian  party  in  Rome. 
They  appealed  to  the  patriotic  passions  of  the  multitude ; hut  this 
time  there  was  not  one  stanza  sung  in  praise  of  Pius  IX. 

Farini  relates,”  says  Legge,  that  a person  much  conversant  with 
affairs,  who  witnessed  the  festivities,  told  him  that  the  sight  of  that 
got-up  emotion — of  those  leaders  and  flags,  of  that  multitude — im- 
pressed him  profoundly,  and  made  him  doubtful  of  the  upshot. 
He  called  that  demonstration  a revolution  in  jest,  and  prognosticated 
that  matters  would  not  end  with  jesting.” 

The  multitude  participating  in  the  processions  were  marshaled 
according  to  the  fourteen  districts  into  which  Rome  was  divided, 
each  district  having  its  own  officers  and  banners.  Revolution” 
was  as  plainly  written,  or  could  by  the  clear-sighted  be  as  plainly 
read,  on  these  banners,  as  it  appeared  on  those  borne  by  the  Sec- 
tions ” of  Paris  during  the  Reign  of  Terror. 

The  resident  foreign  ministers  were  unanimous  in  counseling  the 
suppression  of  all  such  gatherings  in  the  future  ; and  on  J une  the 
23d  a proclamation,  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  was  issued  to 
that  effect. 

This  crowned  the  unpopularity  of  Cardinal  Gizzi.  Some  people 
whispered  abroad  that  he  had  been  bought  over  by  the  Austrians, 
while  others,  with  much  more  reason,  said  openly  that  the  Pope  no 
longer  agreed  with  his  prime  minister. 

The  High  Council  had  been  created  in  the  middle  of  April,  it  was 
to  meet  in  the  beginning  of  November.  This  delay  was  fatal  to  the 
very  purpose  for  which  it  had  been  called  into  existence.  The 
members  were  not  elected  by  the  free  votes  of  the  citizens  in  their 
respective  localities,  but  were  chosen  by  the  Pope  from  lists  sub- 
mitted to  him  by  the  governors  of  the  Roman  provinces.  This  cir- 
cumstance in  itself  was  calculated  to  excite  the  derision  of  the  Radi- 
cals and  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  moderate  Liberals.  They  had  no 
faith  in  the  governors,  and  saw  in  the  mode  of  selection  no  guarantee 
that  the  popular  will  would  in  aught  be  consulted.  A few  weeks  at 
most  should  have  sufficed  for  the  framing  of  the  lists,  the  completing 
of  the  Pope’s  choice,  and  the  convening  of  the  High  Council. 


Various  Causes  of  Agitation  and  Disconte7it,  147 

This  might  have  appeased  the  public  impatience,  and  held  out  tho 
near  prospect  of  a constitutional  chamber  elected  by  popular  suf- 
frage. As  it  was,  events  were  occurring  which  would  render  the 
meeting  of  the  High  Council  a calamity,  and  all  the  reforms  based 
upon  its  action  nugatory. 


^Ye  are  in  July.  Piedmont  is  strangely  agitated.  The  Pope  is 
more  than  ever  embarrassed  by  the  dissensions  existing  in  his  Cabi- 
net. The  conservative  members  are  decidedly  opposed  to  any  fur- 
ther concessions  to  the  moral  pressure  exercised  by  a fanatical  public 
opinion.  And  the  liberal  minority  hesitate.  The  Pope  alone  falters 
not  in  his  purpose. 

‘‘If,”  says  Guizot,  “he  had  only  had  to  busy  himself  with  Roman 
affairs,  and  with  questions  temporal  and  spiritual,  these  difficulties, 
despite  their  magnitude,  would  have  not  been  beyond  his  grasp.  It 
soon  appeared,  however — and  the  Pope  confessed  it — that  he  found 
before  him  far  mightier  interests,  and  problems  much  deeper,  and 
entirely  beyond  his  ken.  The  evidence  forced  itself  on  him  that 
he  had  to  deal  not  only  with  the  internal  system  of  the  Roman 
States,  but  with  the  territorial  and  political  fate  of  Italy. 

“ The  Austrian  rule  weighed  still  on  all  the  Italian  States,  being 
everywhere  the  mainstay  of  the  stationary  party,  and  becoming 
daily  more  hateful  to  the  public  sentiment.  The  idea  of  national 
unit}^  monarchical  or  republican,  arose  and  ascended  above  the 
horizon.  Scarcely  entered  on  the  career  of  Roman  reforms,  Pius 
IX.  saw  opening  before  him  the  perspective  of  Italian  wars  and  revo- 
lutions.” 

The  very  resistance  opposed  to  the  movement  only  served  to  in- 
crease the  velocity  it  had  already  acquired. 

There  existed  in  the  States  of  the  Church  an  ancient  volunteer 
organization,  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century,  and  set  on  foot  dur- 
ing the  troublous  period  when  freebooters  in  the  pay  of  the  petty 
Italian  potentates  were  the  scourge  of  the  country.  These  volun- 
teer corps  originally  consisted  of  middle-class  citizens  and  agricul- 
tural laborers,  officered  by  nobles,  all  interested  in  defending  their 
own  homes  and  industry.  The  officers  were  called  Centurioni,  or 
captains  of  a hundred  men,  a denomination,  as  has  been  remarked  in 
an  early  chapter,  which  extended  to  the  entire  militia.  When  the 
necessity  which  created  them  ceased,  the  officers  slill  found  it  their 
interest  to  keep  the  men  together ; they  became  as  great  a scourge  as 
the  freebooters,  were  proscriDed  by  the  authorities,  degenerated  into 


48 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


a secret  society,  and  were  suppressed  by  Sixtus  V.  Indeed,  it  tools 
the  iron  hand  of  that  pontiff  to  crush  them. 

In  an  evil  hour  Cardinal  Bemetti,  Secretary  of  State  to  Leo  XIL, 
revived  them  for  the  purpose  of  suppressing  the  Carbonari ; and,  as 
it  ever  happens  in  such  emergencies,  the  remedy  proved  as  great  a 
curse  as  the  evil.  They  retaliated — it  was  affirmed — on  their  treacher 
ous  opponents  with  a treachery  as  black,  and  far  more  odious,  because 
committed  under  the  pretext  of  vindicating  order  and  defending  re- 
ligion. Their  deeds  of  violence — real  or  imaginary — were  grossly 
exaggerated,  and  became  a favorite  theme  for  radical  journalists  and 
liberal  writers  of  fiction. 

This  force  assumed  great  importance  during  the  troubles  of 
1831-32,  counting  from  30,000  to  50,000  men, — and  were  nicknamed 
Sanfedists,  or  ‘^Holy  Faith  Men,”  by  their  enemies.  They  formed, 
in  1846  and  1847,  a dangerous  element  of  discontent,  looking  with 
disfavor  on  the  reforms  of  Pius  IX.,  ready  (their  opponents  afiSrmed) 
at  any  moment  to  welcome  the  Austrians,  most  cordially  detested  by 
Young -Italy  and  ^^the  sects,”  and  subsequently,  when  the  latter  had 
their  triumph,  relentlessly  hunted  down  and  assassinated. 

It  was  a sad  state  of  affairs ; and  what  was  the  Pope  to  do  ? The 
cry  had  been  raised  for  a national  militia,  a civic  guard,”  to  be  re- 
cruited from  the  middle  class  of  the  city  population ; and  this  cry  be- 
came louder  and  more  persistent  every  day.  It  was  argued — with  a 
show  of  reason  that  seemed  most  convincing  to  one  not  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  condition  of  Italy — that  the  formation  of  an  armed 
citizen  militia,  recruited  of  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion,  and  bound 
to  maintain  order  at  home,  while  ready  to  repel  violence  from  abroad, 
would  at  once  paralyze  all  the  dangerous  elements  among  Sanfedists 
and  Carbonari.  Petitions  came  pouring  in  from  the  cities  of  the 
Romagna,  and  were  urged  on  the  acceptance  of  the  pontiff  by  Count 
Rossi  and  other  moderate  Liberals. 

The  council  of  ministers  voted  against  the  measure,  as  one  which 
was  only  a transparent  pretext  for  putting  the  arms  of  the  State  in 
the  hand  of  the  revolutionists,  while  leaving  those  who  had  been  the 
defenders  of  order  to  the  mercy  of  their  undisguised  foes.  Cardinal 
Gizzi  did  not  conceal  his  opposition  to  a step  which  he  qualified  as 
an  act  of  weakness.  The  Pope  resolved  there  should  be  a civic  guard 
in  Rome,  at  least,  where  he  could  himself  superintend  its  organiza- 
tion and  repress  every  tendency  toward  military  excess ; later,  he  said, 
there  should  be  a civic  guard  in  the  provinces. 


Creation  of  Civic  Gnard  decreed  by  the  Pope.  149 

On  the  5th  of  July  appeared  the  decree  creating  it  in  Rome.  It 
was  a great  victory  for  the  Radicals,  the  greatest  by  far  they  had  yet 
achieved.  The  ^‘Sections”  of  the  city,  under  the  generalship  of 
Ciceruacchio,  managed  to  get  up  a half-demonstration,  and  many 
houses  were  illuminated.  But  in  the  clubs  the  members  grasped 
each  other’s  hand  in  silence  or  in  subdued  tones  that  bespoke  intense 
satisfaction. 

One  would  have  thought,  on  seeing  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the 
Roman  youth  hastened  to  be  enrolled  and  to  devote  themselves  to  mil- 
itary exercises,  that  some  formidable  invader — Brennus,  or  Hannibal, 
or  Napoleon — was  again  crossing  the  Alps  to  crush  out  forever  all 
that  was  left  of  life  and  greatness  in  Rome. 

Beyond  the  Roman  States  the  effect  of  this  decree  was  tremendous. 
This  one  act  of  Pius  IX.  was  hailed  everywhere  as  the  first  sure 
augury  of  national  independence  and  unity.  Nothing  could  repress 
the  joy  of  the  people  in  all  the  cities.  The  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany 
yielded  to  the  wishes  of  his  subjects,  authorized  the  formation  of  a 
civic  guard  on  the  model  of  that  in  Rome,  and  beheld  what  he 
thought  the  entire  city  of  Florence  come  forth  in  solemn  procession 
to  thank  him  and  sing  his  praises. 

Thus,  with  a steadiness  that  no  obstacle  could  discourage,  and 
with  an  intelligence  which  turned  to  account  every  calculated  result 
or  chance  occurrence,  Mazzini  pursued  his  course,  calling  forth  in 
the  Italian  soul  every  latent  energy,  every  spark  of  patriotic  passion, 
banding  men  together  in  great  multitudes  that  they  might  count 
their  numbers  and  feel  their  strength,  and  investing  the  mighty  force 
thus  created  with  one  maddening  purpose : that  of  ridding  their 
country  from  foreign  domination — of  being  free  and  united  ! 

Gizzi’s  last  official  act  was  to  sign  the  decree  authorizing  the  for- 
mation of  the  Roman  civic  guard.  He  withdrew  forthwith,  and  was 
succeeded  on  July  the  10th  by  Cardinal  Gabriello  Ferretti,  a relative 
of  the  sovereign. 

It  was  an  unfortunate  choice — if,  indeed,  any  choice  could  have 
proved  fortunate  when  the  word  implied  the  power  of  staving  off  the 
inevitable.  Cardinal  Ferretti  was  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  Pope, 
as  were  all  the  members  of  the  family,  well  known  throughout  the 
Marches  and  Romagna  for  their  enlightened  liberalism.  In  every 
position  hitherto  filled  by  the  new  Secretary  of  State,  he  had  taken 
his  illustrious  kinsman  for  his  model,  practicing  the  virtues  that  dis- 
tinguished him,  and,  like  him,  endearing  himself  everywhere  to  the 


i5o 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


people.  When,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  pontificate,  he  was 
appointed  governor  of  Pesaro,  there  arose  at  first  a cry  of  nepotism. 
He  was,  notoriously,  the  only  member  of  the  Pope’s  family  in  any 
way  advanced  to  a higher  office.  Those  who  had  raised  the  cry, 
however,  soon  repented  of  it,  when  they  perceived  that  the  Pope’s 
sole  object  in  this  appointment,  was  to  give  his  native  province  of 
Pesaro  and  IJrbino  a ruler  known  for  his  conciliatory  and  generous 
disposition,  and  sorely  needed  in  a country  cursed  with  civil  discord 
and  irreligious  propagandism. 

But  with  all  these  amiable  qualities  and  popular  antecedents.  Car- 
dinal Ferretti  was  no  statesman  ; and  if  ever  circumstances  required 
preternatural  forethought  and  energy  to  save  the  State  and  the  sov- 
ereign, such  were  those  of  the  Roman  government  on  July  the  10th, 
1847.  Cardinal  Ferretti  had  neither. 

We  remember,  some  forty  years  ago,  of  a band  of  armed  men  on 
Lake  Erie  seizing  by  night  a suspected  steamer,  taking  her  out  into 
Niagara  River,  lashing  her  helm,  setting  her  on  fire,  putting  on  a 
full  head  of  steam,  and,  after  betaking  themselves  to  their  boats,  set- 
ting her  head  down  stream  toward  the  Falls.  The  people  on  both 
sides  beheld  amid  the  darkness  the  awful  spectacle  of  the  burning 
vessel  impelled  toward  the  roaring  gulf  with  such  prodigious  velocity, 
many  asking  themselves  fearfully  if  there  were  no  persons  on  the 
doomed  craft  ? Who  could  help,  if  there  had  chanced  to  be  ? 

Was  it  not  a like  terrible  spectacle  that  the  whole  civilized  world 
— from  America,  from  far-distant  Australia,  as  well  as  from  every 
part  of  Europe — beheld  in  Rome,  when  that  government,  created  so 
providentially  more  than  a thousand  years  before,  was  allowed  by 
Christendom  to  be  seized  by  guilty  conspirators,  and  sent  a helpless, 
blazing  wreck  headlong  down  the  current  of  Radical  revolution  ? 

The  16th  of  July  was  the  anniversary  of  the  amnesty.  The  Ro- 
mans were  making  active  preparations  for  a celebration  that  should 
compensate  for  the  forced  silence  of  the  last  four  weeks,  and  a like 
activity  was  displayed  in  all  the  other  cities  of  the  Papal  States. 

Suddenly,  on  the  14th,  all  Rome  was  convulsed,  as  by  the  shock  of 
an  earthquake,  with  the  tidings  that  there  was  a conspiracy  on  foot 
to  seize  the  Pope  and  his  reforming  minister,  and  carry  them  off  to 
the  Austrian  head-quarters.  Numbers  of  disguised  Sanfedists,  it  was 
said,  had  been  coming  into  Rome  for  some  days ; the  governor  of 
Rome,  Monsignor  Grassellini,  was  the  local  head  of  the  conspirators, 
having  for  his  chief  instruments  Nardoni,  Freddi,  and  Allai,  who 


The  Supposed  Conservative  Conspiracy,  i5i 

had  held  military  command  under  Gregory  XVL,  and  had  been 
distinguished  for  their  zeal  in  combating  the  Carbonari  and  the 

sects.”  They  had  been  also  extremely  actiye  in  suppressing  the 
insurrection  which  had  occurred  in  Faenza  and  Cesena  in  June ; and 
connected  with  them  was  one  Minardi,  who  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a police  spy. 

Whateyer  may  haye  been  the  truth  about  this  conspiracy,  so  many 
circumstances  gaye  it  such  a color  of  probability  in  the  eyes  of  the 
excited  populace,  that  the  clubs  resolyed  to  make  the  most  of  it. 
During  the  night  of  June  13,  Ciceruacchio  with  a band  of  his  trusty 
followers  went  to  the  Theatine  monastery,  called  for  Father  Ventura, 
confided  to  him  the  fact  of  the  conspiracy  and  the  names  of  the  per- 
sons mentioned  aboye,  together  with  the  sentence  of  death  passed 
against  them  in  the  clubs,  and  which  should  be  unfailingly  executed 
on  the  morrow. 

Ventura  affected  to  disbelieye  the  report,  or  to  consider  as  not 
serious  their  deadly  menaces  ; but  when  his  informants  had  retired 
he  lost  not  a moment  in  going  to  the  Quirinal  and  acquainting  the 
Holy  Father  and  his  Secretary  of  State  with  what  he  had  heard. 
The  threatened  officials  were  forthwith  warned  of  their  danger,  as 
well  as  Cardinal  Lambruschini,  who  was  always  supposed  to  be  the 
soul  of  the  reactionary  party. 

Grassellini  was  too  high-minded  to  cower  before  the  utmost  yio- 
lence  of  a mob  ; Lambruschini  was  forced  by  the  Pope  to  get  beyond 
the  reach  of  danger ; Freddi,  Nardoni,  and  Allai  disappeared  from 
Rome  before  daylight — Minardi  alone  remaining.  Eyery  detail  of 
these  proceedings  were  perfectly  known  to  Ciceruacchio  and  his  em- 
ployers. They  had  made  up  their  minds  to  take  the  goyernment  of 
Rome  into  their  own  hands,  and  to  make  an  example  of  Grassellini, 
if  they  could  lay  hands  on  him,  if  not,  of  the  spy  Minardi,  whose 
hiding-place  they  were  acquainted  with. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  appeared  an  official  proclamation  from 
the  Secretary  of  State  forbidding  the  intended  celebration  on  the 
17th,  and  this  order  was  communicated  by  telegraph  to  the  pro- 
yinces.  This  confirmed  the  populace  in  the  belief  that  a dreadful 
conspiracy  indeed  existed,  and  the  public  indignation  and  alarm 
reached  the  highest  pitch  when  the  clubs  caused  printed  lists  of  the 
accomplices  to  be  posted  up  all  oyer  Rome.  Before  noon  the  city 
was  filled  with  an  armed  multitude  before  whom  the  public  fled  in 
terror,  the  cardinals  and  principal  citizens  shutting  themselyes  up 


i52 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


till  the  storm  had  blown  over.  Cardinal  Ferretti  made  no  serious 
attempt  to  quell  the  violence  of  the  mob,  which  took  upon  itself  to 
arrest  all  persons  suspected  of  opposition  to  Pius  IX.  or  of  partiality 
to  the  Austrians.  Many  private  residences  were  broken  into  and 
searched,  while  no  magistrate  appeared  to  check  these  lawless  pro- 
ceedings. The  pontifical  government  seemed  to  have  abdicated  in 
favor  of  Ciceruacchio. 

Count  Rossi  in  a letter  to  his  chief,  M.  Guizot,  relates  some  of  the 
riotous  occurrences  of  these  days  of  mob  rule  in  Rome.  On  the 
evening  of  the  14th,  about  6 o’clock,  a crowd  filled  the  street  near 
S.  Andrea  delle  Fratte,  at  the  end  of  the  Corso  and  behind  the  Pro- 
paganda. It  was  said  that  the  hated  Minardi  was  concealed  in  a 
neighboring  house,  and  ‘‘the  people”  meant  to  have  him.  Men 
were  seen  running  along  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  as  it  was  reported 
that  he  had  escaped  by  the  roof  of  that  in  which  he  lay.  Then  it 
was  said  that  he  had  fied  to  a little  chapel  near  at  hand ; but  his 
pursuers  dared  not  violate  the  sanctuary  in  quest  of  him. 

“I  was  on  foot,”  says  Rossi ; “mixed  up  with  the  crowd;  it  was 
quite  a farce.  There  were  a few  hundred  persons,  quiet  passengers, 
priests,  and  curiosity-hunters  like  myself.  If  the  government  had 
merely  sent  a hundred  civic  guards,  with  arms,  and  without  much 
noise,  and  with  a magistrate  at  their  head,  simply  saying,  ‘ Gentle- 
men, retire  ! ’ in  ten  minutes  the  square  would  have  been  evacuated. 
Instead  of  that  they  allowed  the  cries  to  continue  for  hours,  and  at 
last  endeavored  to  persuade  the  shouters  that  the  man  was  not  there. 
. , . Authority  having  failed,  they  hit  upon  the  expedient  of 

sending  Father  Ventura  to  preach  to  the  people.  I was  present.  It 
was  a comedy  to  be  seen  nowhere  but  in  Rome.  First,  a sermon  in 
the  church  of  S.  Andrea.  They  ran,  they  listened,  they  applauded. 
‘Jesus  Christ  for  ever  ! The  Pope  for  ever  ! The  people  of  Rome 
for  ever  ! Father  Ventura  for  ever  ! But  we  must  have  the  maiP’* 

At  length  permission  was  obtained  to  search  the  oratory.  The 
prisoner  was  to  be  brought  forth  by  Father  Ventura,  taken  homo 
in  his  carriage,  and  guarded  by  him  till  the  Pope  had  decided  liis 
fate.  At  11  o’clock  at  night  a detachment  of  troops  arrived  with 
the  Father’s  carriage : he  went  into  the  chapel,  found  no  Minardi 
there.  This  announcement  found  the  crowd  incredulous  at  first, 
but  they  soon  yielded  to  his  solemn  assurances.  “Well,  my  chil- 
dren,” said  the  good  Theatine,  “it  is  time  to  go  home;  so  pray 
come  with  me ; ” and  away  they  went. 


Rome  Ruled  by  Mob  Law,  153 

And  these,”  continues  Kossi,  ^^are  the  people  before  whom  the 
government  has  given  way.”  * 

The  proclamation  forbidding  festivities  in  the  provinces  on  the 
16th  of  July  was  productive  of  more  serious  consequences,  if,  indeed, 
anything  can  be  more  serious  than  executive  weakness  before  a mob. 
There  were  ominous  movements  on  foot  in  the  Austrian  strongholds, 
and  the  prohibition  of  all  public  rejoicing  on  so  great  an  anniversary 
was  considered  to  be  both  an  evidence  of  a Sanfedist  conspiracy  and 
a step  backward  on  the  part  of  the  papal  government.  There  were 
tumultuous  assemblages  of  armed  men,  and  blood  was  shed  in  more 
than  one  place. 

On  the  16th  July  an  Austrian  force  crossed  the  papal  frontier,  and 
on  the  morning  of  July  the  17th,  cavalry,  infantry,  and  artillery  were 
before  Ferrara,  with  their  cannons  in  position  before  the  walls,  and 
their  gunners  with  lighted  matches,  waiting  to  see  the  gates  peace- 
fully opened  by  the  authorities  or  prepared  to  batter  them  down. 
Resistance  being  useless,  and  the  protestations  of  the  governor.  Car- 
dinal Ciacchi,  proving  unavailing,  the  Austrian  general  took  posses- 
sion of  the  gates,  and  of  such  posts  within  as  enabled  him  to  quell  any 
hostile  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  citizens ; the  citadel  remaining  in 
the  possession  of  the  pontifical  troops. 

This  event  was  big  with  the  fate  of  the  Papacy.  Amid  the  tem- 
pest of  anger  which  swept  the  pontifical  states  like  a whirlwind,  few 
men  were  found,  even  among  the  most  decided  Conservatives,  who 
were  bold  enough  to  express  other  sentiments  than  those  of  indigna- 
tion at  this  uncalled  for  invasion. 

At  Rome,  agitated  and  utterly  demoralized  as  were  the  lower  and 
middle  classes  by  the  riotous  proceedings  of  the  14th  and  15th  July, 
the  news  of  ^Hhis  outrage,”  as  it  was  qualified  even  by  the  moderate, 
threw  the  entire  city  into  a stupor,  Tvhich  was  succeeded  by  a frenzy 
of  patriotic  wrath,  Grassellini  had  given  way  to  Monsignor  Morandi, 
as  governor  of  Rome.  The  entire  body  of  citizens  offered  their  ser- 
vices to  the  Pope ; petitions  came  pouring  in  from  the  provinces  ask- 
ing for  the  organization  of  a civic  guard  in  every  locality,  a demand 
which  the  government  could  not  now  consistently  withstand ; and 
at  the  request  of  Rossi  the  French  government  hastened  to  send 
seven  thousand  stand  of  arms  for  the  papal  militia. 

It  took  some  time,  however,  to  convince  the  Holy  Father  that 


* Guizot’s  **  Last  Days  of  tlie  Reign  of  Louis  Pkilippe,”  as  quoted  by  liCgge. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


1 54 

France  was  acting  in  perfect  good  faith.  There  were  many  reasons 
at  the  time  which  afforded  men  of  calm  judgment  a solid  motive  for 
believing  with  the  Pope  that  France  and  Austria  had  joined  hands 
to  coerce  his  government  into  a line  of  policy  less  revolutionary  in  its 
tendencies.  The  tone  of  the  extract  just  given  from  Eossi’s  private 
coiTespondence  with  the  French  premier,  reigns  throughout  all  Rossi’s 
letters  written  at  this  period,  and  pervaded,  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
his  conversation  with  his  colleagues  in  Rome,  and  with  his  friends 
in  the  Liberal  party. 

He,  like  very  many  of  the  best  minds,  could  not  understand  that 
the  policy  of  a Pope,  and  his  attitude  toward  foreign  powers,  were 
exceptional,  and  could  resemble  those  of  no  other  pontentate.  His 
military  forces  could  only  be  used  for  defensive  purposes,  not  for  ag- 
gressive warfare.  When,  therefore,  there  was  question  of  an  Italian 
armed  league  handed  together  to  drive  the  Austrians  from  Italian 
soil,  it  was  hard  to  make  Italian  patriots  understand  that  the  pontiff 
could  not  become  one  of  its  active  members. 

To  be  sure,  old  Pope  Julius  II.  would  have  judged  and  acted 
otherwise.  But  how  much  obloquy  has  not  the  bellicose  humor  of 
old  Julius  drawn  down  on  the  papacy,  though  his  acts  have  been 
justified  even  by  Protestant  historians  and  statesmen?  Pius  IX., 
thank  God,  was  no  Julius ; and  had  he  imitated  such  warlike  pre- 
cedents, we  know  what  blame  he  must  have  incurred  from  non- 
Cath olios  and  Catholics  alike.  He  consented  to  have  his  subjects 
organized  as  a national  militia,  that  was  his  right,  and,  it  may  he, 
his  duty  in  presence  of  unprovoked  invasion  ; he  accepted  the  offer 
of  arms  from  a friendly  power,  that  was  equally  his  right  in  defense 
of  his  own  sovereignty  and  for  the  maintenance  of  law  and  order 
within  his  States. 

Beyond  these  and  other  such  defensive  measures  the  Pope  never 
could  be  made  to  move. 

And  here  occurs,  quite  naturally  to  our  purpose,  the  opportunity 
of  stating  what  the  great  powers  of  Christendom  should  have  done 
for  the  Pope  in  his  extreme  need,  and  what  they  did  not  do.  This 
alone  will  explain  logically  the  misfortunes  which  followed,  and 
which,  to  the  minds  of  most  readers  of  history,  form  a tangle  that 
no  hand  can  unravel. 

The  Church  in  her  relation  to  Christendom — when  it  was  an  as* 
semblage  of  sovereign  States — as  well  as  in  her  relation  to  each  State 
in  which  she  existed,  was  that  of  a parent,  a mother,  ruling 


i55 


Position  and  Policy  of  the  Papacy, 

**  by  tbe  right  divine 
Of  helplessness.” 

^ Her  liberty,  her  honor,  her  sacred  and  inviolable  rights,  were  under 
the  protection  of  every  member  of  the  community,  each  individual 
considering  that  his  own  dearest  interest,  his  duty,  his  honor,  were 
bound  up  in  the  independence  and  dignity  of  the  mother  of  all. 
The  Pope  was  but  the  representative  of  the  Church,  her  chief  pastor, 
the  custodian  of  the  independence  and  absolute  liberty  needful  to 
the  discharge  of  his  own  office,  and  of  the  subordinate  churches  in 
every  land. 

His  helplessness  always  coexisted  with  the  temporal  sovereignty 
which  was  the  condition  of  his  spiritual  and  official  independence. 
This  was  what  Christian  Europe  understood,  while  the  popes  en- 
joyed the  greatest  plenitude  of  power  and  influence  ; this  was  what 
they  themselves  ever  understood. 

They  were  by  divine  right  shepherds  over  the  entire  fold  of 
Christ,  they  were  by  force  of  fact  bishops  of  Eome  ; none  other  but 
the  supreme  head  of  the  hierarchy  could  be  bishops  there,  without 
schism,  sacrilege,  flagrant  violation  of  the  divine  ordinance  and  im- 
prescriptible right.  In  Eome,  therefore,  they  must  have  their  home, 
they  must  be  free,  and  to  be  free  they  must  be  sovereigns,  indepen- 
dent in  temporals  as  in  spirituals  of  every  earthly  power. 

Such  is  the  constitution  of  the  Christian  Church,  as  Catholics  at 
all  times  and  throughout  the  world  have  believed  in  it.  On  this 
belief  all  Christendom  had  acted ; even  after  the  Eeformation  Pro- 
testant powers  in  their  diplomatic  intercourse  with  Eome  had  so 
acted,  and  such  is  the  only  statesmanlike  view  which  should  have 
been  held  and  acted  upon  in  the  year  of  grace  1847. 

Every  State  which  still  retained  the  name  of  Catholic,  even  those 
not  in  religious  communion  with  Eome  but  having  Catholic  subjects 
with  recognized  rights,  all,  without  exception,  should  have  come  to 
the  assistance  of  the  sovereign  of  Eome,  because  Eome  was  the  center 
of  Catholic  unity  and  government,  and  her  pontiff  should  be  pre- 
served by  all  Christian  States,  absolutely  free  and  independent,  not 
onl7  against  the  tyranny  of  any  one  foreign  power,  but  even  against 
the  domination  of  his  own  people. 

There  was  at  the  time  one  statesman  who  felt  this,  and  but  one, 
and  he  was  a Protestant,  the  great  and  large-minded  G-uizot.  On 
learning  the  critical  position  in  which  the  Pope  was  placed,  between 
Austrian  interference  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  many-headed  Cor- 


56 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  JX, 


berus  of  Italian  passion  on  the  other,  Guizot  instructed  Count  Kossi 
to  offer  the  Iloly  Father  the  protection  of  France.  Prince  Metter- 
nich,  who  ruled  at  that  time  the  policy  of  the  Austrian  goyemment, 
vainly  tried,  through  his  agents  at  Paris,  every  argument  to  win 
over  Louis  Philippe  to  his  views  of  Roman  affairs.  The  Pope,  he 
thought,  was  yielding  up  himself  and  his  government  to  the  revolu- 
tionary ideas  of  such  men  as  Gioberti  and  Lamennais,  and  was  going 
to  embroil  all  Europe  in  civil  and  religious  strife. 

Guizot  saw  that  a period  was  dawning  in  the  social  world  like 
those  mighty  upheavals  of  which  geology  preserves  the  record,  when 
continents  are  rent  asunder  and  sink  beneath  the  waves,  leaving  only 
a few  dominant  summits  visible  above  the  conquering  waters,  while 
other  islands  and  continents  are  lifted  up  from  the  deep,  and  are 
soon  covered  with  beauty,  life,  and  order — the  theater  of  a new  dis- 
play of  the  Creator’s  exhaustless  power  and  wisdom.  The  far-see- 
ing French  statesman,  warned  by  the  spreading  changes  in  men’s 
minds,  attachments,  and  institutions,  wished  to  preserve  against  all 
possibility  of  future  disaster  that  great  central  authority,  the  papacy, 
which  he  proclaims  as  the  greatest  school  of  reverence  ” for  all 
that  is  truly  divine  and  humanizing,  that  ever  existed  here  below. 

He  was  sincerely  anxious  to  conciliate  for  the  papacy  the  respect 
and  affection  of  the  democratic  generations  growing  up  in  Italy, 
and  in  whose  hands  its  future  must  lie  for  many  a coming  age. 

“What  does  the  Pope  desire  ?”  he  writes,  on  September  17,  1847. 
“ It  is  to  be  on  good  terms  with  his  subjects  ; to  stop,  by  legitimate 
satisfactions,  the  fermentation  which  is  eating  up  their  strength ; 
and  to  win  back  for  the  Church  and  religion,  in  modern  society,  the 
place  which  belongs  to  them. 

“AYe  entirely  approve  these  designs;  we  believe  them  to  be  ad- 
vantageous alike  to  Italy  and  to  France,  to  the  king  in  Paris  as  to  the 
Pope  in  Rome.  AYe  are  desirous  to  second  the  Pope  in  his  designs. 

“What  are  the  dangers  which  threaten  him  ? The  danger  of  re- 
maining stationary,  and  the  danger  of  plunging  into  revolution. 
There  are  men  around  him  who  would  do  nothing  but  leave  matters 
exactly  as  they  are.  There  are  others  around  him,  as  elsewhere 
in  Europe,  who  would  overturn  everything,  who  want  him  to  alter 
ever3ihing,  at  the  risk  of  being  overthrown  himself,  as  those  who 
urge  him  to  such  a course  secretly  desire. 

“ AA^’e  wish  to  assist  the  Pope  in  defending  himself  against  this 
twofold  danger,  and  if  necessary  we  shall  give  him  efficient  aid.  We 


Giuzot's  Efforts  Paralyzed  by  Palmerston,  i57 

are  neither  entirely  stationary  nor  entirely  revolutionary,  either  at 
Rome  or  in  France.  We  know  by  our  own  experience  that  there  arc 
social  wants  which  must  be  satisfied,  progress  which  must  be  admit- 
ted, and  that  the  greatest  interest  of  a government  is  to  be  on  good 
terms  with  its  people  and  the  times.’’ 

But  France  was  not  allowed  to  bestow  on  the  Pope,  at  the  moment 
he  needed  it  most,  that  ‘^efficient  aid”  or  efiective  moral  support, 
which,  if  approved  and  seconded  by  other  governments,  would  have 
enabled  him  to  reform  his  own  States  and  to  bafile  efiectually  the 
intrigues  of  Piedmont,  the  machinations  of  Young  Italy,  and  the 
coercive  designs  of  Austria.  Shall  we  say  how  Guizot’s  sympathy 
was  rendered  unavailable,  as  well  as  Louis  Philippe’s  firm  resolve 
to  aid  the  Pope  in  his  distress  ? 

We  find  a clue  to  it  in  the  memoirs  recently  published  of  a man 
who  was  during  his  lifetime  the  trusted  friend  and  counselor  of 
more  than  one  sovereign,  and  whose  infiuence  seated  more  than  one 
prince  on  a European  throne,  Baron  Christian  Frederick  Stockmar.* 
He  reveals  the  fact  that  in  August,  1846,  the  English  government 
were  so  anxious  to  give  as  a husband  to  the  young  Queen  of  Spain 
Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg,  that  they  were  ready,  in  order  to 
secure  it,  to  risk  a rupture  and  a war  with  France.  Guizot  and  his 
master,  Louis  Philippe,  had  successfully  baffled  all  the  schemes  of 
England,  and  Lord  Palmerston,  who  was  then  in  the  British  Foreign 
Office,  vras  offering  to  the  Spanish  Progessists,  the  party  of  revolution, 
the  sympathy  and  aid  of  his  government  in  order  to  defeat  the  alli- 
ance favored  by  France.  These  abominable  intrigues  were  not  even 
disguised  from  the  French  and  Spanish  courts,  the  threat  of  revolu- 
tion being  held  out  by  Palmerston  in  order  to  terrify  the  Queen- 
mother,  Maria-Cristina,  into  accepting  a Coburg  for  her  daughter. 

The  menace  had  the  contrary  effect,  however.  The  English  and 
the  revolution  are  threatening  us,”  said  the  spirited  woman  to  her 
minister,  Senor  Mon.  And  without  a moment’s  delay  the  young 
sovereign  was  made  to  accept  her  cousin  for  husband,  and  to  give 
her  sister  to  the  Duke  of  Montpensier. 

Palmerston  held  in  his  hand  the  winds  of  revolution,  and  at  his  bid- 
ding they  swept  over  every  country  of  continental  Europe  in  which 
be  wished  his  policy  to  prevail.  The  ruin  of  the  Orleans  dynasty  was 

* See  Denkwurdigkeiten  aus  den  Papieren  des  Freiherrn  Christian  Friedrich 
von  Stochmar ; Englisli  translation,  “Notabilia  from  the  Papers  of  Stockmar,” 
1872. 


i58 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


then  resolved  upon  by  this  iEolus  of  the  political  world.  The  Prince 
of  Joinville,  in  command  of  the  Prench  fleet  in  the  Mediterranean, 
and  who  was  instructed  to  aid  the  Pope  in  every  way  in  his  power, 
wrote  from  Spezzia  on  November  the  7th,  1847  : ‘‘These  unfortu- 
nate Spanish  marriages  ! we  have  not  yet  drunk  to  the  dregs  the 
Intterness  they  have  stored  up  for  us.  . . . These  marriages 
haunt  me  like  a nightmare.”  Three  months  later,  in  Febmary, 
1848,  Louis  Philippe  and  his  family  were  driven  from  France  by  the 
revolution,  to  the  intense  satisfaction  of  Lord  Palmerston. 

So,  in  the  autumn  of  1847,  at  the  very  time  when  Lord  Minto 
was  surrounded  at  Eome  and  Florence  by  the  Italian  revolutionists 
with  all  the  homage  due  to  one  who  represented  the  great  controller 
of  the  winds  and  storms,  Palmerston, — the  latter  had  well  settled  in 
his  own  mind  that  Guizot  should  not  give  “efficient  aid”  to  the 
Pope  in  his  dread  dilemma. 

Let  U.S  now  see  what  truth  there  is  in  the  saying  of  Count  Goddes 
de  Liancourt : “To  the  glory  of  the  British  cabinet  history  must 
attest  how  promptly  England  came  forward  to  the  succor  of  the 
threatened  liberties  of  Eome.  It  w^as  her  powerful  protection  which 
saved  Italy  in  1847.”  * 

Were  any  one  to  hesitate  as  to  Lord  Palmerston’s  complicity  in  all 
the  plots  set  on  foot  against  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Holy  See, 
it  were  only  needful  that  he  should  read  carefully  the  speeches  on 
Italian  affairs  made  by  that  statesman  and  Mr.  Gladstone  in  the 
parliamentary  session  of  1863.  The  sentiments  there  expressed  and 
manifested  more  openly  afterward,  afford  a key  to  the  instructions 
given  to  Lord  Minto  in  1847,  and  the  other  dispatches  bearing  on 
the  Eoman  question.  The  fair  diplomatic  language  of  these  official 
documents  are  to  be  read  interlined  with  the  subsequent  and  more 
frank  utterances  of  the  great  European  agitator. 

Gretton  quotes  with  approbation  the  following  words  of  the 
Italian  patriot  Eanalli  as  exactly  characterizing  the  conduct  of  the 
English  foreign  minister  in  the  Minto  intrigue  and  during  the  dark 
and  tortuous  negotiations  which  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  Eoman 
republic. 

“ Those  were  the  days  of  happy  hallucination,  amongst  which  I 
know  not  whether  to  class  as  the  greatest  hope  to  liberty  from  a 
Pope,  or  the  belief  that  Great  Britain  was  really  desirous  of  seeing 


* ‘‘Pius  IX.,”  by  Count  Goddes  de  Liancourt. 


Strategy  of  the  Radicals — Reforms,  169 

as  raised  to  the  rank  of  one  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  Bitterly 
indeed  have  we  expiated  our  blind  trust  in  England.  . . . 

Solely  did  the  government  profess  to  favor  the  Italian  movement, 
because  to  do  so  won  popularity  with  the  masses.”  * 

Great  Britain,  that  is,  Lord  Palmerston,  did  then  pretend  ail 
through  this  troublous  epoch,  and  while  the  Pope  was  casting  about 
for  help  and  support,  to  be  ‘‘desirous  of  seeing  us  (Italy)  raised  to 
the  rank  of  one  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe.”  And  it  was  notori- 
ous, it  was  the  burden  of  all  Lord  Minto’s  speeches,  that  the  English 
government  “professed  to  favor  the  Italian  movement,  because  to 
do  so  won  popularity  with  the  masses.” 

It  was  no  secret  that  such  men  as  the  British  Foreign  Secretary 
and  his  friend  Mr.  Gladstone  favored  Mazzini  and  Young  Italy  be- 
cause “the  movement  ” which  they  originated  and  controlled  tended 
to  a united  Italy,  in  which  the  temporal  power  of  the  papacy,  like 
the  hated  kingdom  of  Naples,  should  be  absorbed.  It  was  not 
merely  to  “win  popularity  with  the  masses”  that  they  fraternized 
with  Mazzini  in  England  and  encouraged  his  associates  abroad,  it 
was  to  work  the  destruction  of  the  Holy  See. 

In  September  Guizot  made  a step  further  in  aid  of  the  Pope.  He 
addressed  a circular  to  the  French  ambassadors  at  the  European 
courts  urging  on  all  the  necessity  of  a united  manifestation  of 
reverence  and  support  in  favor  of  the  sovereign  pontiff.  He  pointed 
out  the  dangerous  fermentation  which  was  spreading  daily  through- 
out Italy,  and  expressed  the  desire  of  the  French  government  that 
the  reforming  governments  and  their  peoples  should  be  encouraged 
and  aided  in  effecting  the  necessary  changes  without  convulsion  or 
interruption. 

It  was  the  only  earnest  effort  made  by  any  one  government  to 
recall  Christendom  to  a sense  of  its  duty,  but  found  no  sympathetic 
response  at  the  moment. 

In  good  time  the  Austrian  government  was  induced  to  withdraw 
its  forces  from  the  papal  territory.  But  the  armed  passions  this 
aggression  had  called  forth  remained,  ready  to  the  hand  that  could 
wield  them  to  its  own  purpose. 

Amid  all  these  uncertainties,  plots,  and  counterplots  the  Pope 
pursued  his  course,  perfecting  all  the  measures  needful  for  the 
meeting  of  the  Consulta  or  High  Council  in  November,  and  urging 
on  equally  important  reforms  in  the  interior  of  the  Church. 


* The  Vicissitudes  of  Italy,”  by  A.  L.  Gretton. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Heroic  Spirit  of  Pius  IX. — Pursues  his  Reforms — Opening 
OF  Council  of  State — Rossi  urges  Secularization  of  Gov- 
ernment— Roman  Clubs  triumph  over  Defeat  of  the 

SONDERBUND — CrY  “DoWN  WITH  THE  JESUITS  — SYMPA- 
THY OF  America. 

WHAT  American  reader  does  not  recall  with  pride  the  conduct 
of  one  of  our  naval  officers  during  the  terrible  earthquake  in 
Peru  in  March,  1859  ? When  the  first  convulsions  were  over,  and 
all  was  ruin  where  a city  had  been  a moment  before,  the  commander 
of  the  American  frigate  in  the  harbor  knew  that  a tidal  wave  was  at 
hand,  and  that  the  real  danger  for  himself  and  his  crew  was  to  come. 
A first  great  wave  swept  landward  without  doing  them  much  harm  ; 
but  the  experienced  commander  felt  that  it  was  only  the  forerunner 
of  one  far  more  formidable.  He  had  everything  on  his  vessel  made 
secure,  with  every  man  at  his  post  of  duty,  silent,  resolute,  and  watch- 
ful, ready  to  perish  with  their  noble  ship,  if  the  worst  should  come, 
but  determined  to  stand  by  her  to  the  last. 

It  was  a sublime  picture  of  heroism.  And  it  is  a like  heroic  spirit 
that  kept  Pius  IX.  steadfast  to  his  purpose  amid  the  successive  agi- 
tations and  disappointments  that  passed  over  his  soul  like  so  many 
waves  of  bitterness  in  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1847. 

We  say  nothing  here  of  the  reforms  inaugurated  by  him  in  the  pre- 
ceding month  of  April  among  the  great  monastic  orders,  and  which 
were  pushed  forward  so  calmly  and  resolutely  in  spite  of  the  political 
agitation.  These  demand  a separate  chapter.  But  while  the  Aus- 
trian occupation  in  the  provinces  assumed  daily  a more  aggravating 
form,  and  the  popular  feeling  surged  around  him  with  ever-increas- 
ing fury,  he  continued  to  make  one  important  improvement  after 
another  in  the  institutions  of  his  States.  In  his  twofold  quality 
of  a sovereign  prince  and  a sovereign  pontiff  he  had  undertaken 
measures  of  reform  in  Church  and  State  as  a conscientious  duty, 
trusting  to  an  overruling  Providence  to  aid  him,  and  to  the  hearty 

160 


He  Pursues  Steadily  his  Course  of  Reform,  1 6 1 

good-will  of  his  subjects  to  co-operate  with  him  toward  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  double  task. 

On  the  2d  of  October  he  published  a decree  establishing  in  the 
city  of  Eome  a municipal  government  framed  on  the  best  models, 
and  admirably  adapted  to  the  genius  of  the  people,  to  their  habits, 
and  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  pontifical  government.  From  time 
immemorial  all  the  cities  of  the  Papal  States  had  possessed  a munici- 
pal organization  suited  to  their  wants,  and  totally  opposed  to  the 
modern  notions  of  centralization  but  too  often  in  favor  even  in  dem- 
ocratic countries.  But  Rome  had  always  been  governed  by  magis- 
trates immediately  dependent  on  the  sovereign,  and  unassisted  by 
anything  like  our  aldermanic  bodies  or  town-councils. 

The  decree  created  a deliberative  council  of  one  hundred  members, 
chosen  from  among  the  citizens  of  Rome  and  its  immediate  territory 
{Agro  Romano) ; sixty-four  of  these  councilors  to  be  proprietors, 
thirty-four  to  be  chosen  from  among  the  public  functionaries,  the 
liberal  professions,  the  mercantile  class,  the  manufacturers,  and 
heads  of  trades ; and  four  members  to  represent  the  religious  cor- 
porations and  establishments  of  beneficence. 

Above  this  council  was  the  Roman  senate,  or  body  of  magistrates, 
composed  of  a senator’^  and  eight  ^^conservators,’’  all  of  them 
chosen  by  the  council  from  among  its  own  members. 

Their  powers  in  Rome  were  to  be  precisely  what  those  of  existing 
municipal  bodies  were  in  the  other  cities  of  the  Papal  States.  The 
senate  had  the  administration  of  all  the  property  and  domains  of  the 
city,  as  well  as  the  care  of  the  walls,  gates,  aqueducts,  fountains, 
gardens,  cemeteries,  slaugliter-houses,  etc.  To  it  belonged  the  duty 
of  providing  for  health,  fires,  inundations,  the  elementary  schools, 
the  support  of  orphans  and  homeless  children,  the  promoting  of 
trade  and  industry,  the  registration  of  all  civil  deeds,  and  the  police 
of  the  city  and  suburbs. 

The  tax  hitherto  imposed  on  the  Jewish  population  was  abolished. 

It  was  a great  step  in  advance,  and  the  Pope  did  not  conceal  his 
purpose  of  improving  this  organization  after  he  had  seen  it  working. 

There  was  more  than  this  : on  the  very  next  day,  October  the  3d, 
the  Secretary  of  State  issued  a declaration  in  which  in  the  Pope’s 
name  he  laid  the  basis  of  a commercial  or  customs  union  destined  to 
embra:;e  the  entire  Peninsula.  The  union  then  comprised  the  king- 
dom of  Sardinia,  Tuscany,  and  the  grand  duchy  of  Lucca.  The 
hope  was  expressed  that  the  King  of  Naples  and  the  Duke  of  Modena 


i62 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


would  soon  give  in  tlieir  adhesion,  and  thus  enable  the  soyereigns  to 
complete  and  improve  the  scheme! 

This,  in  the  Pope’s  mind,  was  to  be  but  the  preliminary  to  a polit- 
ical union  embracing  all  the  best  features  of  Gioberti’s  ideal  plan  of 
a federal  Italy,  and  conciliating  the  just  rights  of  the  sovereigns  with 
those  of  their  people,  and  the  need  of  united  political  action  and 
progress  in  all  modern  material  improvements. 

These  measures  filled  the  Moderate  Liberals  with  intense  satisfac- 
tion ; they  could  not  help  believing  in  the  absolute  sincerity  of  the 
Pope  and  his  unalterable  determination  not  to  stop  till  he  had 
achieved  all  one  man  could  do  for  his  people  and  country.  Need  we 
say  that  the  Eadicals  and  the  ultra-Liberals  were  not,  or  pretended 
not  to  be,  satisfied  ? It  is  sufficient  to  look  over  the  files  of  the 
Roman  journals  or  the  Piedmontese  press  of  October  and  November, 
1847,  to  be  convinced  of  their  set  purpose  to  misrepresent  every  act 
and  intention  of  Pius  IX. 

In  mid-October  was  published  the  decree  constituting  the  ConsuUa 
or  High  Council  of  State,  promised  in  April.  ^‘Our  object  was,” 
the  Pope  declares  in  the  preamble,  ^Ho  form  a Council  of  State, 
and  thus  endow  the  pontifical  government  with  an  institution  justly 
appreciated  by  the  other  European  governments,  and  which  in  former 
times  constituted  the  glory  of  the  States  of  the  Holy  See.  . . .We 
are  persuaded  that,  when  assisted  by  the  talent  and  experience  of 
persons  honored  with  the  suffrages  of  entire  provinces,  it  will  be 
easier  for  us  to  take  in  hand  the  administration  of  the  country,  and 
impart  to  it  a character  of  utility  which  is  the  object  of  our  solici- 
tude. This  result  we  are  certain  to  attain.  . . . 

We  shall  thus  show  the  world  through  the  medium  of  our  voices 
and  the  press,  as  well  as  by  our  attitude,  that  a population  inspired 
by  religion,  devoted  to  its  prince,  and  gifted  with  good  sense,  knows 
how  to  appreciate  a political  blessing,  and  to  express  its  gratitude 
with  order  and  moderation.  This  is  the  only  reward  we  ask  in  re- 
turn for  our  constant  care  of  the  public  welfare.” 

One  paragraph  is  of  essential  importance,  as  indicating  the  various 
objects  for  which  the  council  was  created.  ^^It  is,”  the  decree  goes 
on  to  say,  instituted  to  assist  the  Pope  in  the  administration ; to 
give  its  opinion  on  matters  of  government  connected  with  the  gene- 
ral interests  of  the  State  and  those  of  the  provinces  ; on  the  prepara- 
tion of  laws,  their  modification  and  all  administrative  regulations ; 
on  the  creation  and  redemption  of  public  debts ; the  imposition  or 


opening  of  the  Council  of  State,  1O3 

reduction  of  taxes ; on  tlie  customs’  tariff ; on 

the  revision  and  reform  of  the  present  organization  of  district  an  1 
provincial  councils,”  etc. 

The  15th  of  November  was  fixed  for  the  meeting  of  this  body, 
which  was  only  the  pledge  and  preparation  of  an  assembly  more 
in  conformity  with  modern  representative  assemblies.  Should  the 
members  do  their  duty  conscientiously  in  this  their  first  session,  there 
is  scarcely  a doubt  but  the  Pope  would  create  that  other  deliberative 
and  elective  body  which  he  contemplated. 

The  Pope  stood  pledged  to  the  gradual  introduction  of  constitu- 
tional principles  and  practice.  These  ‘‘had  the  support  not  only  of 
a majority  of  the  Sacred  College,  but  of  all  the  most  enlightened 
and  respectable  citizens  of  Kome  and  the  other  large  towns ; whilst 
they  were  fairly  in  advance  of  the  political  aspirations  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  provincial  population.”  * 

How  happens  it  then,  according  to  this  most  bitter  opponent  of 
tlie  papacy,  that  measures  “fairly  in  advance  of  the  political  aspira- 
tions of  the  whole  body  of  the  provincial  population,”  and  supported 
by  the  cardinals  and  all  that  was  most  respectable  among  the  citizens 
of  Eome,  should  have  been  rendered  barren  of  all  useful  result  ? 

“ The  Pope  himself,”  continues  Legge,  “was  . . . an  object 

of  distrust  with  the  ultra-Liberal  and  Mazzinian  party  in  Eome, 
who  represented  him  as  unwilling  to  confer  that  fuller  liberty  which 
they  designed  to  employ  in  subverting  his  government.  ...  In 
their  arrangements  for  celebrating  the  installation  of  the  Consulta, 
they  designed  to  give  it  the  importance  and  external  features  of  a 
sovereign  body.  The  Eoman  princes  had  agreed  to  place  at  the  dis- 
posal of  each  of  the  deputies  one  of  the  State  carriages  in  which  they 
were  to  repair  to  the  Quirinal,  attended  by  servants  in  full  livery.” 

Cardinal  Antonelli  was  appointed  president,  and  Monsignor  Amici 
vice-president  of  this  council.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  great 
cardinal  had  been  called  upon  to  preside  over  a body  charged  with 
anything  like  legislative  functions,  for  a legislative  body  it  soon  at- 
tempted to  become.  Hitherto  he  had  been  employed  in  financial  ad- 
ministration : now  he  had  to  begin  the  apprenticeship  to  that  stormy 
political  career  covering  thirty  years  of.  incessant  struggle. 

It  was  a splendid  pageant,  such  as  the  Eome  of  the  Popes  alone 
could  produce ; and  it  never  beheld  one  more  fascinating  to  the  eye, 


* Legge,  i.  186 


154 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Riid  got  up  with  a more  hearty  purpose  to  impress  the  reigning  Pope 
that  his  Rome  should  be  thenceforth  only  the  Rome  of  the  people. 

The  government  had  made  the  occasion  an  official  fete,  the  notifi- 
cation of  all  the  proceedings  being  made  by  the  senate  of  Rome. 
The  members  were  to  go  in  state  to  the  Quirinal  to  present  their 
homage  to  the  sovereig-n,  and  thence  to  St.  Peter’s  Church  to  assist 
at  a solemn  Te  Deum.  The  clubs  and  Ciceruacchio  had  it  all  their 
ovm  way  in  preparing  the  decorations  and  the  illumination  for  the 
evening.  The  Sixteen  Sections  ” of  Rome  were  there  in  more  than 
full  force,  their  ranks  being  swollen  by  strangers  from  the  provinces, 
all  of  them  members  of  the  Young  Italy  League.  The  civic  guard 
was  out  with  its  banners,  and  the  pontifical  cavalry  and  infantry, 
all  forming  an  escort  to  the  twenty-four  deputies  with  their  presi- 
dent and  vice-president.  It  was  magnificent ; but  it  was  far,  more 
than  that.  It  was  full  of  prophetic  foreboding,  and  excited  irresist- 
ibly the  imagination  and  the  passions — the  ardent  hopes  and  the 
dark  fears — of  the  multitude  that  swept  along  in  the  splendid  show, 
and  of  the  multitudes  who  gazed  from  street  and  window  and  bal- 
cony as  the  procession  went  and  came. 

The  members  of  the  council,”  says  Parini,  ^'appeared  before 
the  Pope,  both  with  manifestations  of  reverence  and  trustful  in  their 
hearts ; while  with  them  were  mingled  some  meddling  agitators, 
persons  -that  made  use  of  public  displays  for  displaying  themselves, 
and  that  bedizened  themselves  in  the  palace  with  the  tribunitian 
authority  which  they  usurped  in  the  streets.  A cloud  of  displeasure 
darkened  the  serene  countenance  of  the  pontiff,  who  told  those  before 
him  how  he  was  gratified  to  see  them  in  his  presence,  how  he  trusted 
in  them,  how  he  hoped  favorable  results  from  the  institution  of  the 
body,  and  that  God  would  not  smite  Italy  with  the  tempest  that  was 
then  gathering.  He  then  touched,  with  serious  words  and  mien 
upon  the  immoderate  desires  and  the  insane  hopes  which  inflamed 
some  inconsiderate  minds ; after  which  he  took  leave  of  them  cour- 
teously, and  gave  his  blessing.  . . * 

To  the  address  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  council,  on  taking  posses- 
sion of  its  hall  in  the  Vatican,  hastened  to  reply  in  becoming  terms. 

Your  work.  Holy  Father,”  they  said,  “has  not  been  undertaken 
to  favor  exclusively  one  order  of  citizens  ; it  embraces  all  your  sub- 
jects in  a common  bond  of  love,  and  that  love  is  such  that  your  ex- 


» Farini,  i.  313,  813. 


The  Funeral  of  the  Political  Power  1' 


i65 


ample  is  followed  by  tbe  other  sovereigns  of  Italy,  united  with  their 
subjects  in  the  alliance  of  principles,  passions,  and  interests.  . . . 

Amongst  us,  the  first  and  most  venerable  of  all  authorities  takes  on 
itself  to  initiate  us  in  the  progress  of  civilization.  That  authority 
itself  directs  the  minds  of  men  in  a peaceable  and  temperate  move- 
ment, and  guides  us  toward  the  supreme  end,  which  is  the  reign  of 
truth  and  justice  on  earth.” 

Ay,  assuredly,  he  was  in  earnest  for  the  reign  of  justice  and  truth 
on  earth,  this  priest,  this  bishop,  this  Pope,  into  whose  life  a single 
selfish  thought  had  never  entered.  Not  more  earnestly  and  more 
lovingly  did  the  holy  Pope  Innocent  I.  in  the  fifth  century  labor  to 
collect  together  the  wretched  population  of  Pome  after  its  six  days’ 
pillage  by  Alaric,  and  to  help  them  build  up  their  homes,  and  restore 
their  churches,  and  resume  the  practice  of  all  earthly  thrift  and 
Christian  virtue,  than  did  this  good  shepherd  in  the  nineteenth  apply 
himself  to  create  a new  and  happy  Kome  out  of  all  the  elements  of 
the  past,  and  a great  and  glorious  Italy  from  out  the  chaos  of 
discordant  passions  and  interests. 

One  who  was,  a twelvemonth  thereafter,  day  for  day,  to  seal  with 
his  blood  his  fidelity  to  Pius  IX.  and  the  truth  of  his  filial  devotion 
to  Italy,  wrote  to  his  chief  in  Paris,  after  beholding  the  gorgeous 
procession  and  the  triumphant  festivities  of  that  15th  day  of  Novem- 
ber : ‘^This,  in  my  opinion,  was  the  funeral  of  the  political  power 
of  the  clergy  at  Rome.  Etiquette  will  remain  more  or  less,  but  the 
contents  of  the  vase  will  be  different ; there  will  be  still  cardinals 
and  prelates  employed  in  the  Roman  government,  but  power  will 
be  elsewhere.  The  essential  point  for  us  is,  that  there  may  be  no 
revolution — properly  so  called — revolution  in  the  public  squares.  I 
persist  in  the  hope  that  none  will  take  place.”  * 

One  would  be  loath  to  cast  the  slightest  shadow  of  doubt  on  the 
good  faith  of  one  who  knew  how  to  brave  the  daggers  of  a crowd  of 
assassins ; but  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel,  on  reading  these  words> 
and  connecting  them  with  Rossi’s  official  acts  and  utterances  at  this 
period,  that  the  wish  was  here  father  to  the  thought. 

These  words,  nevertheless,  were  but  too  true  a prophecy.  The 
Council  of  State  had  not  been  in  session  twenty-four  hours,  when 
some  of  its  members  began  to  show  that  they  were  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Ultra-Liberals  and  the  Mazzinians.  The  Moderate 


• Guizot,  **  Last  Dajs  of  the  Reign  of  Louis  Philippe.” 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


1 66 

Liberal  party  in  Rome,  with  Rossi,  d’Azeglio,  and  Farini  as  iba 
guides  and  spokesmen,  were  still,  ostensibly,  the  controlling  power 
among  the  enlightened  reformers  whom  the  Pope  and  his  secretary 
trusted  and  consulted  Of  these  Farini  was  perhaps  the  only  one 
who  sincerely  desired  to  see  the  Pope’s  temporal  sovereignty  strength- 
ened by  the  coming  changes,  because  he  deemed  an  independent, 
popular,  and  spiritual  sovereignty  indispensable  in  the  Italian  politi- 
cal system  which  was  his  ideal.  Rossi  wished  to  destroy  what  he 
called  ‘^the  influence  of  the  Jesuits”  over  the  papal  councils,  for  the 
word  ^^clericalism”  had  not  yet  been  invented;  he  was  laboring  to 
reduce  the  clerical  element  in  the  administration  to  the  single  office 
of  Secretary  of  State,  thereby  placing  the  government  almost  ex- 
clusively in  the  hands  of  laymen.  D’Azeglio,  reserved  and  taci- 
turn, was  working  for  Piedmont,  sincerely  believing  that  every 
change  which  gave  additional  power  to  the  laity — that  is,  either  to 
Liberals  or  to  Radicals — was  a step  toward  the  supremacy  of  Pied- 
mont. Neither  Liberals  nor  Radicals,  he  judged  rightly,  could  long 
hold  the  government  of  the  Roman  States.  Italy  must  have  one 
constitutional  king,  and  he  should  be  the  head  of  the  house  of  Savoy. 

A few  days  after  the  15th  of  November,  Rossi  called  on  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  and  plied  the  weak  and  irresolute  minister  with  the 
arguments  he  had  been  employing  to  such  good  purpose  with  the 
Pope  and  Cardinal  Gizzi  for  the  last  eighteen  months.  Speaking  of 
the  Pope’s  address  to  the  deputies  : '^The  speech,”  he  says,  seems 
to  imply  the  idea  of  absolute  temporal  government  in  the  hands  of 
the  clergy,  leaving  to  the  lay  element  no  other  share  of  influence 
tlian  that  of  giving  advice.  This  is  too  little.  It  might  have  suf- 
ficed a year  ago  : heads  were  not  then  excited  ; hopes  were  moderate ; 
the  rest  of  Italy  had  not  been  waked  up.  Now  matters  are  differ- 
ent. Illusion  is  no  longer  possible.  The  Radicals  are  knocking 
at  your  door.  You  must  put  them  down.  You,  the  clergy,  cannot 
do  it  single-handed.  You  need  the  co-operation  of  the  laity,  of  all 
among  them  who  are  possessed  of  intelligence,  power,  and  moder- 
ation. . . . You  must  satisfy  them.  The  civic  guard  and  the 

Council  of  State  are  the  means,  but  not  the  end.  ...  If  you  do 
not  strengthen  your  rulers  by  calling  in  laymen  to  fulfill  the  duties 
which  have  nothing  to  do  with  religious  affairs  and  the  Church,  all 
will  become  impossible  for  you,  and  possible  for  the  Radicals.”  * 


* **Last  Days  of  the  Reign  of  Louis  Philippe/'  p.  856. 


Secularization  of  the  Government  Urged,  167 

A decree  soon  appeared  appointing  a council  of  ministers,  but  on 
the  list  there  was  no  layman,  and  its  publication  only  exasperated 
the  party  who  insisted  on  a lay  government.  But  the  more  moderate 
saw  in  it  a hope  of  better  things,  and  were  pleased  with  the  power 
granted  to  the  new  ministers,  who  might  now  consider  themselves 
ministers  indeed. 

Eossi,  however,  gave  the  Pope  and  his  secretary  no  rest  till  they  had 
yielded  to  his  representations.  In  an  interview  with  the  former,  he 
pressed  the  urgency  of  a new  and  more  liberal  decree  upon  his  atten- 
tion. ^‘For  matters  purely  temporal  you  can  no  longer  make  two 
castes  of  the  clergy  and  laity ; you  must  henceforward  mingle  and 
associate  them,”  was  Kossi’s  remark.  The  first  decree  {mohi  pr0‘ 
prio)  on  the  council  of  ministers  was  sent  to  me  while  I was  ill. . . . 
It  is  not  good.  I recalled  it  for  supervision.  The  new  one  will  soon 
appear.  ...  I shall  say  that  the  war  department  may  be  held 
either  by  a layman  or  an  ecclesiastic.”  ‘‘That  will  be  something, 
but,  if  your  Holiness  permits  me  to  make  the  remark,  not  enough. 
There  should  be  at  least  two  other  portfolios  open  to  the  laity,  the 
interior,  the  finance,  the  police,  the  public  works,  or  whatever  your 
Holiness  may  please  to  select.”  “I  understand;  I shall  see,  and 
do  my  best.  I am  myself  quite  a novice,  and  little  skilled  in  these 
matters.”  * 

This  dialogue  throws  a light  on  the  Pope’s  situation  and  character, 
which  explains  subsequent  events.  He  was  so  anxious  to  play  the 
part  of  a true  sovereign  I But  he  was,  moreover,  the  shepherd 
• placed  over  the  whole  fiock  of  Christ ; and  what  was  happening  daily 
in  Eome  does  not  account  sufficiently  for  the  exhaustion  and  ill- 
ness mentioned  here.  Events  were  just  then  transpiring  among  the 
Catholic  cantons  of  Switzerland  which  filled  the  soul  of  the  pontiff 
with  bitterness. 

The  real  though  concealed  intervention  of  Lord  Palmerston  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  ancient  republic  has  already  been  mentioned. 
Sir  Kobert  Peel  had  been  sent  thither  to  encourage  the  Protestant 
cantons  in  their  warfare  on  the  Sonderbund,  just  as  Lord  Minto 
was  sent  to  Eome  to  see  to  it  that  not  one  vestige  of  clerical  power 
should  remain  in  the  reformed  administration  of  the  Papal  States. 
Eossi,  while  residing  in  Switzerland  in  1832,  had  been  one  of  a com- 
mission employed  to  revise  the  constitution.  On  his  report,  princi- 


* lUdem, 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


1 68 

pally,  were  based  the  radical  changes  then  made,  changes  which  were 
hostile  to  Catholic  interests,  centralizing  in  their  nature,  destruc- 
tive of  religious  liberty,  and  rejected  by  the  Catholic  cantons.  The 
others,  however,  adopted  them  ; and  the  constitution,  as  it  stands  to 
this  day,  with  all  the  pernicious  consequences  it  has  never  ceased  to 
produce  for  religion  and  for  liberty,  is  mainly  the  work  of  that  Rossi, 
who,  in  November  and  December,  1847,  was  the  most  influential 
counselor  of  the  hapless  Pope  and  his  chief  minister.  There  was 
another  Italian  whose  influence  was  no  less  powerful  for  evil  in  that 
hour  when  the  dearest  interests  of  the  Church  of  Switzerland  were 
oppressed  by  the  Radicals,  and  the  Church  in  Italy  was  threatened  by 
so  fateful  a storm  : this  was  Vicenzo  Gioberti.  His  work  on  ‘‘  The 
Moral  and  Civil  Supremacy  of  the  Italians,”  had  been  severely  and 
justly  criticised  by  some  Jesuit  theologians  ; and  the  author,  a priest 
himself,  replied  in  two  suecessive  works,  his  Prolegomeni  (1845),  and 
II  Gesuita  Moderno  (1846),  both  replete  with  the  quintessence  of  all 
the  slanders  ever  heaped  upon  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  its  members. 
Such  books  were  a godsend  to  the  Radicals  and  revolutionists  of 
every  country  and  degree.  They  were  translated  into  all  the  Eu- 
ropean languages,  and  cheap  editions  were  circulated  everywhere 
among  the  Catholic  populations  of  Europe,  through  the  vast  agency 
of  the  secret  societies.  They  were  scattered  broadcast  over  Switzer- 
land espeeially,  which  was  the  chief  refuge  on  the  continent  of  all 
political  exiles  and  plotters.  They  were  far  more  powerful  auxili- 
aries to  the  Protestant  Diet  in  its  war  on  the  Catholic  cantons  than 
the  cohorts  of  General  Dufour. 

Gioberti  was  hailed  throughout  Switzerland  and  Italy  as  the  man 
who  had  expelled  the  Jesuits  from  Lucerne  and  Fribourg.  In  Rome, 
this  victory  of  rank  religious  intolerance  was  hailed  with  indescrib- 
able enthusiasm,  and  Gioberti  was  invited  by  the  clubs  to  hasten  to 
the  Eternal  City  and  receive  an  ovation  beneath  the  eyes  of  the 
Superior-General  of  the  Jesuits,  whom  they  were  wont  to  designate 
as  ^‘the  Black  Pope.” 

On  his  arrival  the  city  went  wild  with  enthusiasm.  A guard  of 
honor  was  stationed  before  his  door,  and  in  public  he  was  paid  the 
homage  and  reverence  due  to  sovereigns.  The  press,  the  clubs,  the 
gatherings  in  the  street,  echoed  only  one  sentiment — immortal  honor 
to  Gioberti,  death  to  the  Jesuits.  A procession  was  organized  with 
banners,  music,  and  torchlights ; the  leaders  had  the  audacity  to 


The  Clubs — The  Sonderbund — The  yesuits,  169 


pass  around  the  Quirinal  and  to  shout  their  cries  beneath  the  win- 
dows of  Pius  IX. 

He  felt  outraged  in  his  dignity  as  head  of  the  Church  and  the 
natural  protector  of  all  the  great  religious  bodies  which  constitute 
the  most  efficient  and  devoted  aids  of  the  common  father  in  all  the 
varied  duties  of  the  Christian  ministry.  No  one  better  than  he 
knew  how  utterly  baseless  were  the  slanders  uttered  against  the 
J esuits  from  the  days  of  Pascal  to  those  of  Gioberti.  He  took  occa- 
sion of  the  next  meeting  of  the  Consistory,  on  December  the  17th, 
to  enter  his  solemn  protest,  if  not  against  the  triumphant  recep- 
tion given  to  Gioberti,  at  least  against  the  indignities  hurled  at  the 
Society  of  Jesus. 

‘^TVe  are  unable,”  the  allocution  says,  ^‘to  refrain  from  making 
mention  of  the  bitter  grief  which  has  overwhelmed  us  in  consequence 
of  what  happened  here  a few  days  ago.  In  this  our  city,  the  strong- 
hold and  center  of  the  Catholic  religion,  some  half-crazy  persons  were 
found  . . . who,  casting  aside  the  common  sentiments  of  hu- 

manity, did  not  shrink — amid  the  loudly  expressed  indignation  of  their 
fellow-citizens — from  rejoicing  and  openly  triumphing  over  the  issue 
of  the  sad  intestine  war  that  has  lately  broken  out  in  Switzerland.” 

Perhaps  if  left  to  his  own  true  impulses  the  generous  pontiff 
would  have  done,  then  and  there,  what  Clement  XIII.  did  when  all 
the  sovereigns  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  pressed  him  to  sacrifice  and 
defame  the  J esuits — defend  and  praise  them,  covering  their  institute, 
their  teaching,  their  labors,  and  their  persons  with  the  shield  of  his 
supreme  spiritual  authority. 

Timid  and  time-serving  bishops  had  written  to  the  lion-hearted 
old  Pope,  urging  him  to  listen  to  the  remonstrances  of  the  Bourbon 
courts,  in  order  to  avoid  a schism. 

So  long  as  God  will  be  our  helper,”  was  the  heroic  answer,  we 
shall  never  be  induced  by  any  solicitation,  private  or  public,  to  fail 
in  our  duty  when  the  distress  of  the  Church  moves  our  soul,  or  the 
affiictions  that  have  fallen  on  our  beloved  sons  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  appeal  to  us.  We  place  our  trust  in  him  who  rules  the  ocean 
and  its  storms.”  And  he  issued  the  magnificent  bull  Apostolicurriy 
clearing  the  Society  from  every  stain,  and  proving  and  confirming 
anew  its  constitutions  and  rules. 

But  Cardinal  Ferretti  was  not  the  man  to  advise  such  a measure, 
and  then  again,  it  was  better  that  Pius  IX.  should  not  have  given  to 
the  Italian  agitators  a new  pretext  for  violence  and  insurrection. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


170 

Of  course,  the  Jesuits  had  no  more  to  do  with  causing  civil  war 
in  Switzerland,  than  their  presence  in  Louisiana,  Kentucky,  and 
Missouri  had  with  the  existence  of  our  late  civil  war.  They  were 
called  to  teach  by  the  Catholic  cantons,  acting  in  their  sovereign  ca- 
pacity. Their  teaching  was  what  that  of  their  brethren  is  this  day 
in  New  York  and  Washington  and  San  Francisco,  and  their  conduct 
equally  loyal,  peaceful,  edifying,  and  useful. 

The  Pope  had  vainly  interposed  to  protect  them.  France  and 
Austria,  as  has  already  been  said,  supported  the  right  of  the  Catholic 
cantons  to  maintain  their  schools.  How  happened  it  that  Franco 
and  Austria  and  Prussia — not  to  speak  of  the  Pope — were  beaten  and 
outgeneraled  ? Let  Mr.  Legge  inform  us. 

The  General  Diet  declared  the  Sonderbund  (or- separate  league  of 
the  Catholic  cantons)  illegal,  decreed  its  dissolution  and  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Jesuits.  The  Sonderbund  refused.  ...  A congress 
of  the  five  powers  was  proposed  to  mediate  between  the  Diet  and  the 
refractory  Sonderbund.  England  was  indisposed  to  meddle  in  this 
quarrel,  where  she  could  not  reckon  on  an  ally  in  opposing  the  pre- 
tensions (!)  of  the  Jesuits.  Projects  and  counter-projects  were  pro- 
posed, and  whilst  Lord  Palmerston  . . . deferred  the  congress, 

and  kept  it  waiting  for  the  English  envoy,  Switzerland  acted,  over- 
powered the  Catholic  cantons  . . . and  cast  out  the  Jesuits.  . . 

The  policy  of  Lord  Palmerston  has  at  least  the  merit  of  success. 
. . , To  him  Switzerland  was  indebted  for  the  preservation  of 

her  independence,  when  threatened  by  Austrian  and  French  troops, 
under  the  pretext  of  protecting  religion.’’  * 

Meanwhile,  in  free  America,  the  noble  efforts  made  by  Pius  IX. 
to  place  religion  and  true  liberty  side  by  side  at  the  head  of  progress 
and  Italian  nationality,  continued  to  excite  the  warmest  admiration 
and  sympathy.  A meeting  was  held  in  November,  at  New  York,  in 
which  the  most  prominent  public  men  took  a part ; eloquent  speeches 
were  made  commending  the  enlightened  and  courageous  initiative 
of  the  pontiff,  and  expressing  a deep  interest  in  the  success  of  his  re- 
forms. The  Catholic  citizens  were  content  to  allow  persons  of  pure 
American  and  Protestant  descent  to  preside,  and  to  move  and  second 
the  very  flattering  resolutions  adopted  by  the  enthusiastic  assemblage. 

The  sentiment  of  the  fourth  resolution  conveys  the  spirit  of  the 
meeting. 


Legge,  i.  190, 191. 


Congratulations  from  America  to  Pius  IX,  1 7 1 

present  our  most  hearty  and  respectful  salutations  to  the 
sovereign  pontiff  for  the  noble  part  he  has  taken  in  behalf  of  his 
people ; . . . knowing  the  difficulties  with  which  he  is  sur- 

rounded at  home,  and  the  attacks  with  w^hich  he  is  menaced  from 
abroad,  we  honor  him  the  more  for  the  mild  firmness  with  which  he 
has  overcome  the  one,  and  the  true  spirit  with  which  he  has  repelled 
the  other.” 

On  December  the  30th,  just  as  the  year  was  drawing  to  its  close, 
Pius  IX.  issued  a second  decree  on  the  organization  of  the  council 
of  ministers.  The  only  post  reserved  to  a cardinal  was  that  of 
Secretary  of  State,  who  was  to  be  also  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
and  to  have  a prelate  for  Under  Secretary.  The  other  ministries 
were  left  open  to  laymen.  It  so  happened  that  none  of  them  were 
filled  with  laymen  at  the  time,  and  this  circumstance  deprived 
the  concession,  so  persistently  urged  by  Eossi,  of  all  its  conciliatory 
grace.  The  Eadicals  were  furious.  On  December  the. 31st  was 
issued  a circular  interpreting  the  law  of  censorship  of  the  preceding 
March  the  15th.  The  discussion  of  political  subjects  which  might 
thwart  the  best  interests  of  the  State  or  interfere  with  pending 
negotiations  was  forbidden.  This  restriction,  thought  to  he  neces- 
sary while  so  many  delicate  questions  were  discussed  with  Austria 
and  the  governments  of  the  Peninsula,  would  not  have  appeared  un- 
reasonable in  a country  so  easily  excited  and  governed  by  a sound 
public  opinion.  But  Eome  had,  just  then,  to  think  exactly  in  con- 
formity to  the  opinion  of  the  clubs  and  of  the  radical  press.  This 
last  ‘^step  backward,”  as  they  termed  it,  instead  of  being  a preven- 
tive, proved  to  be  an  incentive  to  disorder. 

Eumors  of  insurrectionary  movements  in  the  north  and  south  of 
Italy  were  whispered  about  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  clubs.  They 
were  the  first  mutterings  of  the  earthquake  on  a volcanic  soil.  They 
had  reached  the  ears  of  Pius ; did  they  make  him  more  anxious  as 
he  went  on  the  evening  of  the  31st  to  pray  in  the  church  of  the 
Gesu  for  mercy  on  the  transgressions  of  that  year  of  bitter  trial,  and 
to  thank  the  God  in  whose  hand  he  was  for  the  mingled  sweets 
and  bitterness  of  his  own  deep  cup  ? The  Pope  it  was  who  intoned 
the  Miserere  as  well  as  the  Te  Deum, 

Ah  ! if  the  true  Christians,  who  knelt  there  with  their  high- 
priest  before  the  mercy-seat,  could  have  foreseen  what  the  coming 
year  held  in  ^tore  for  them  ? . . . But  it  was  the  hand  of  that 

same  Mercy  that  wove  the  vail  which  hides  the  future  from  us. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


New-Year’s  Procession  Forbidden — Mazzini  in  Paris  plan- 
ning Revolutions — The  Tricolor  Flag  in  Rome — Peti- 
tions FOR  A Regular  Army — Pius  IX. ’s  Steady  Patriotism 

. — Appeals  to  his  People — The  Mass  of  his  Subjects 
Faithful. 

Jantjaby,  1848. 

nr\EMONSTRATIONS”liad  become  in  the  bands  of  tbe  party 
of  action  a force  as  regular  and  as  irresistible  as  tbe  flow 
and  ebb  of  tbe  tide,  tbougb  far  more  noisy  and  hurtful  in  tbeir 
effects.  Tbe  chief  reason  why  tbe  Holy  Father  wished  to  restrain 
or  repress  these  continual  gatherings  of  the  people  in  Rome  and  else- 
where in  his  dominions,  was,  that  the  laboring  and  agricultural 
classes  were  forced  by  moral  compulsion  to  leave  their  ordinary  avo- 
cations in  order  to  assemble  at  the  bidding  of  the  clubs.  This  evil 
had  been  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  J une  by  Cardinal  Gizzi,  at  the 
special  request  of  his  sovereign.  Field  labor  was  neglected  ; a small 
crop  was  put  in  the  ground  in  spring,  and,  as  the  provident  pontiff 
feared,  there  was  a scanty  harvest.  There  was  unusual  distress  in 
the  cities,  and  for  the  very  same  reason ; artisans  and  laborers  of 
every  description  were  frequently  called  away  from  their  toil ; trade 
and  commerce  languished,  for  capitalists  and  moneyed  business  men 
were  unwilling  to  make  any  venture  while  the  present  was  so  full 
of  agitation  and  the  future  darkened  with  so  many  uncertainties. 

Hence  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1847  were  attended  with  far  more 
distress  and  suffering  throughout  the  Pontifical  States  than  the  cor- 
responding seasons  of  1846.  All  this,  though  the  clearly  foreseen 
and  inevitable  result  of  the  Mazzinian  agitation,  was  once  more  used 
as  a weapon  against  the  government,  and  helped  to  swell  the  increas- 
ing impatience  of  priestly  rule. 

Pius  IX.  ardently  desired  to  see  this  baneful  agitation  cease,  and 
he  had  resolved  to  check  it  by  affectionate  remonstrance  as  well  as 

172 


New-  Years  Procession  Forbidden, 


173 


by  the  firm  ase  of  his  authority.  Cardinal  Terretti  had  not  dared 
to  enforce  rigorously,  on  becoming  Secretary  of  State,  the  police 
ordinances  against  frequent  assemblages  and  noisy  celebrations,  pub- 
lished by  his  predecessor,  and  which  had  been  so  distasteful  to  the 
clubs. 

The  Pope  insisted  that,  in  view  of  the  scarcity  both  of  food  and 
labor,  no  unusual  expenses  should  be  incurred  by  his  people  for  the 
celebration  of  hTew-Year^s  Day.  This,  nominally,  was  a mark  of 
respect  to  the  sovereign : it  was  now  the  sovereign’s  wish  that  all 
expenses  should  be  curtailed,  in  order  to  relieve  the  manifold  needs 
of  the  poor. 

Unfortunately  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Minister  of  Police 
allowed  the  preparations  for  New-Year’s  Day  to  go  on  without  taking 
any  preventive  measure  either  of  expostulation  or  prohibition.  Night 
had  come,  the  Sections  of  Rome  ” were  in  the  streets  with  banners 
and  blazing  torches,  and  the  Piazza  del  Popolo  was  filled  with  the 
multitude,  the  leaders  marshaling  their  ranks  ere  they  set  out  for 
the  Quirinal. 

Excited  to  an  unusual  pitch  as  they  were  by  the  secret  intelligence 
of  the  contemplated  insurrections,  they  could  not  now  be  repressed  in 
what  was  to  all  appearance  a customary  tribute  of  reverence  and 
affection  to  him  who  was  at  once  pontiff  and  sovereign,  without 
the  risk  of  serious  disorder.  This  very  moment,  however,  was  that 
chosen  by  the  authorities  for  ordering  out  the  military,  with  a strict 
injunction  to  permit  no  part  of  the  procession  to  approach  the 
Quirinal. 

A scene  of  indescribable  uproar  ensued.  No  word  of  disrespect  or 
even  of  blame  was  uttered  against  the  sovereign ; but  Eerretti,  so 
popular  before,  was  now  denounced  with  fearful  imprecations,  as 
well  as  Monsignor  Savelli,  the  Minister  of  Police.  This  had  not 
been  the  latter’s  first  capital  blunder ; a worse  had  been  committed 
some  time  before  in  throwing  disfavor  on  the  Conservative  Liberal 
club  called  Circolo  Romano^  and  in  countenancing  the  formation  of 
a rival  club,  the  Circolo  Popolare,  which  became  in  time  a focus  of 
radicalism  and  sedition. 

The  chief  objects  of  the  popular  aversion,  however,  were  evidently 
the  Jesuits : it  was  good  strategy  in  the  leaders  to  hold  these  poor 
priests  up  to  the  eye  of  popular  prejudice,  as  the  mysterious  power 
behind  the  pontifical  throne,  behind  the  College  of  Cardinals  and  the 
ministers,  from  which  proceeded  every  inspiration  hostile  to  liberty, 


174 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


progress,  science,  the  popular  weal,  and  the  national  prosperity.  It 
was  a notorious  fact,  however — one  familiar  to  every  school-boy  in 
Rome — that  of  all  the  religious  orders  the  Jesuits  were  by  far  the 
least  influential  in  the  Roman  court  with  the  cardinals,  and  espe- 
cially with  the  ministers  then  in  power. 

As  it  was,  nevertheless,  the  storm  of  indignation  vented  itself  on 
the  Jesuits  during  that  night  of  January  the  1st,  1848,  with  a vio- 
lence that  plainly  told  of  worse  deeds  to  come.  To  such  a height 
did  the  anger  of  the  multitude  rise,  that  Prince  Corsini,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  senate,  and  the  chief  of  the  municipal  magistrates,  was 
impelled  to  hasten  to  the  Pope  and  obtain  an  instant  withdrawal 
of  the  troops,  with  the  promise  that  the  sovereign  would  on  the 
morrow  pass  through  the  principal  streets  of  the  city  to  show  his 
confidence  in  the  people. 

A single  document  taken  from  the  Prench  State  papers  and  quoted 
by  Farini  * will  enable  the  reader  to  see  what  hand  let  loose  the 
whirlwind  of  revolution  over  Italy,  France,  and  Germany  in  the  be- 
ginning of  that  same  year.  It  is  a secret  letter  from  Delepert,  the 
French  Prefect  of  Police,  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  written 
in  J anuary. 

I am  told  that  Mazzini  is  come  to  Paris,  in  order  to  take  coun- 
sel with  such  of  his  friends  as  are  here  about  the  means  of  raising 
money  to  dispatch  emissaries  into  Tuscany,  Piedmont,  and  to  Rome 
and  Naples,  who  will  have  instructions  to  second  the  existing  move- 
ment and  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  patriots.  They  have 
been  recommended  to  study  the  character  of  Ciceruacchio,  the  popu- 
lar leader  in  Rome,  and  to  exert  themselves  to  draw  him  into  their 
faction,  by  inducing  him  to  believe  that  everything  will  be  done  with 
a view  to  the  greater  glory  of  Pius  IX. 

‘^In  a word,  the  plan  of  Mazzini  is  as  follows  : To  avail  himself 
of  the  present  excitement,  turning  it  to  account  on  behalf  of  Young 
Italy,  which  repudiates  monarchy  under  whatsoever  form ; and  to 
effect  this  by  raising  the  cry  of  viva  for  the  Duke  of  Tuscany,  for 
Charles  Albert,  and  Pius  IX. 

As  a preliminary  to  his  return  to  London  from  Paris,  Mazzini 
has  traversed  the  departments  to  give  this  matter  in  charge  to  such 
of  his  fellow-countrymen  as  have  been  represented  to  him  as  to  be 
best  adapted  for  it.  ’’ 


* **  Historj  of  the  Roman  State,”  i.  332. 


Mazzini  in  Paris  Planning  Revolutions, 


175 


The  plans  of  Mazzini  had  been  laid  in  November  and  December ; 
his  faithful  emissaries  were  on  their  way  long  before  the  new  year 
had  dawned ; and  Ciceruacchio,  till  then  attached  to  the  Moderate 
Liberal  party,  was  soon  drawn  to  the  party  of  action.  The  French 
Prefect  of  Police  must  have  been  very  blind  and  deaf,  and  very  ill 
served  by  his  subordinates,  if  he  did  not  learn  that  the  arch-conspi- 
rator had  another  purpose  in  Paris  beside  obtaining  money  toward 
fomenting  revolutions  in  Italy.  In  Paris,  and  all  through  the  depart- 
ments of  France,  Mazzini  had  been  carefully  laying  the  train  for  the 
coming  explosion  in  February,  which  was  to  overturn  the  throne  of 
Louis  Philippe  and  neutralize  Eossi’s  action  in  Eome,  and  that  of 
the  whole  Moderate  Liberal  or  Constitutional  party. 

Mazzini  had  also  been  at  Geneva  during  the  war  of  the  Sonder- 
bund,  and  had  arranged  with  Young  Switzerland,  as  well  as  Young 
Europe,  to  give  before  long  the  Prussian  and  Austrian  governments 
such  occupation  at  home  as  would  effectually  prevent  them  from  in- 
terfering with  the  progress  of  radicalism  in  the  Swiss  cantons  and 
in  Italy.  And  so  the  winds  were  sown.  See  we  now  how  Mazzini’s 
enemies  reaped  the  whirlwind. 

On  the  second  day  of  January,  as  announced,  the  Pope  drove 
through  all  the  great  thoroughfares  of  Eome.  If  his  counselors 
had  been  ill-inspired  in  marring  the  celebration  on  New-Year’s  Day, 
it  were  hard  to  say  that  the  concession  made  to  the  mob,  and  the 
condescension  of  the  sovereign  on  the  next  day,  were  anything  else 
than  an  ill-advised  compromise.  But  there  is  always  this  to  say, 
where  a priest  is  sovereign,  that  a gracious  act  of  condescension  is 
ever  pardonable,  save  where  it  is  a positive  encouragement  to  sedition 
and  mob  rule. 

The  streets  were  filled  with  half -joyous,  half -sullen  crowds, 
through  which  the  pontifical  carriage  and  escort  proceeded  slowly. 
At  one  point  there  was  a formidable  array  of  banners  and  men  mar- 
shaled in  serried  ranks.  As  the  Pope  advanced  Ciceruacchio  sud- 
denly approached  his  carriage,  mounted  the  steps  with  a tricolor  in 
his  right  hand,  bearing  the  inscription  Holy  Father,  trust  to  your 
people.”  He  waved  the  fiag  above  the  Pope’s  head,  amid  the  deaf- 
ening shouts  of  the  crowd.  The  action  was  so  unexpected  that  Pius 
IX.  did  not  understand  what  had  passed.  But  the  cries  which  met 
him,  as  he  drove  on,  ‘^Long  live  Pius  IX.  !”  and  ^^Down  with  the 
Jesuits  !”  soon  revealed  the  purpose  of  this  new  demonstration. 

The  spectators  had  taken  Ciceruacchio’s  action  as  the  response  of 


176 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


the  pontiff  to  their  offer  of  support  and  sympathy,  and,  at  his  re- 
quest, they  dispersed  quietly.  The  tricolor  had  been  unfurled  al- 
most in  the  face  of  the  Eoman  pontiff,  and  had  been  waved  in 
triumph  above  his  head.  It  was  now  borne  back  to  the  clubs  as  the 
symbol  of  the  people’s  power,  and  the  pledge  of  their  final  triumph 
at  no  distant  day. 

On  January  the  3d  Monsignor  Savelli  was  dismissed  and  Francesco 
Perfetti,  one  of  the  popular  idols,  was  given  the  ministry  of  police. 
A still  more  significant  appointment  was  that  of  Prince  Gabrielli 
to  the  ministry  of  war.  The  joy  of  the  Romans  was  unbounded. 
Gabrielli  was  a soldier  by  profession,  and  his  entry  into  the  cabinet 
was  hailed  with  the  greater  enthusiasm  that  he  was  a layman,  and 
that  the  department  of  war  was  now  of  all  others  the  most  important 
in  the  threatening  aspect  of  Italian  affairs. 

There  was  more  than  joy,  however,  in  the  feeling  which  lit  up 
Roman  countenances  in  these  first  days  of  the  year  of  revolutions. 
Gioberti  had  returned  to  Turin  feted  like  a conqueror  at  every  stage 
of  his  homeward  journey,  and  was  heard  to  say  in  Turin  that  Pius 
IX.  was  ready  to  crown  Charles  Albert  as  ‘‘King  of  Northern 
Italy,”  if  he  should  succeed  in  wresting  Lombardy  and  Venice  from 
the  Austrians.  There  is  no  proof  that  anything  which  had  been 
uttered  by  the  Pope  during  the  philosopher’s  stay  in  Rome  could 
have  authorized  such  an  assertion. 

Be  that  as  it  may.  Northern  Italy  was  in  a ferment.  Not  only 
was  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  arming  the  entire  male  population 
of  his  dominions,  but  Piedmont  was  bristling  with  bayonets.  It 
was  evident  that  serious  military  events  were  at  hand. 

In  Rome,  the  Council  of  State,  on  the  10th  of  January,  received 
a memorandum  signed  by  some  of  the  most  influential  citizens, 
setting  forth  these  military  preparations  in  Northern  Italy,  and  call- 
ing the  serious  attention  of  the  council  and  the  government  to  the 
fact  that  the  Pontifical  States  were  without  an  army  worthy  of  the 
name.  This  document  ended  with  the  significant  assertion,  “that 
the  nation  is  determined  to  avail  itself  of  the  right  that  calls  in  aid 
every  kind  of  instrument  when  the  question  is  the  defense  of  our 
sovereign,  our  laws,  our  property,  our  liberties — of  everything,  in 
fine,  that  makes  up  the  idea  of  country.  But  if  amidst  the  efforts 
necessary  for  arming  the  masses,  . . . prudence  should  be  un- 

equal to  fixing  the  bounds  of  enthusiasm,  and  the  voice  of  the 
moderate  party  should  become  inaudible,  let  the  fault  and  the 


Petitions  for  a Regular  Army,  177 

punishment  lie  with  those  who  deceive  governments  and  betray 
nations.  . . 

The  council  adopted  this  memorandum  and  urged  on  the  govern- 
ment the  necessity  of  acting  on  its  suggestions.  The  upshot  was 
that  the  pontifical  government  requested  Charles  Albert  to  send  to 
Rome  a military  man  of  distinguished  ability  and  experience,  upon 
whom  should  devolve  the  task  of  creating  an  army  in  the  Papal 
States.  The  choice  of  the  king  fell  on  Giovanni  Durando,  a Pied- 
montese, trained  in  the  Spanish  wars,  and,  like  General  Pepe  in 
Naples,  the  ready  and  willing  instrument  of  Young  Italy  in  further- 
ing every  revolutionary  design. 

On  the  14th  of  January  came  the  tidings  of  the  insurrection  in 
Palermo,  and  two  weeks  afterward  the  news  of  the  successful  insur- 
rection in  Naples.  The  Romans  illuminated  their  houses,  and  the 
clubs  and  sections  organized  processions  in  which  the  tricolor  was 
borne  openly  as  the  flag  of  that  Italy  which  was  now  on  every  man’s 
lips  and  in  many  good  men’s  hearts. 

Cardinal  Ferretti  felt  that  his  unsteady  hand  could  no  longer 
hold  the  helm,  and  he  exchanged  places  with  Cardinal  Bofondi, 
governor  of  Ravenna.  Rossi,  who  little  imagined  that  the  commo- 
tion which  had  shaken  to  its  center  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and 
whose  oscillations  were  felt  so  violently  in  Rome,  would  extend  to 
Paris  and  upset  the  dynasty  whom  he  served,  urged  Pius  IX.  to 
grant  new  concessions.  The  agitators,  the  French  ambassador  urged, 
should  be  isolated,  and  put  down  by  the  lay  element  in  authority, 
not  by  ecclesiastics  in  office.  ^^You  are  right,  the  Pope  said  to 
me,”  thus  he  writes  to  Guizot,  ^^this  course  of  severity  no  longer 
suits  ecclesiastics,  it  would  appear  hateful.”  Rossi  further  insisted 
upon  prompt  and  decisive  measures,  to  prevent  disorder  and  insur- 
rection in  Central  Italy. 

The  active  measures  inaugurated  by  the  Pontiff,  and  urged  on  by 
him  '^with  restless  activity,”  as  he  expressed  it  himself,  shall  be 
presently  mentioned  in  detail.  It  is  to  his  undying  honor  that 
while  the  very  men  he  had  placed  in  authority  among  the  magis- 
trates of  Rome  were  openly  leagued  with  the  Radicals  in  defeating 
every  one  of  his  most  cherished  and  liberal  purposes,  he  could  have 
obtained,  by  a single  word,  the  assistance  of  a French  army  and  navy 
to  support  him  in  carrying  out  his  reforms  against  the  machinations 
of  the  Mazzinians.  The  world  has  never  known  how  magnani- 
mous, all  through  these  evil  days,  was  the  patriotism  of  Pius  IX., 


178 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


how  his  confidence  in  the  practical  sense  and  gratitude  of  his  people 
was  only  surpassed  by  his  trust  in  divine  providence. 

It  is  Guizot  who  reveals  the  resolution  of  the  French  government 
not  to  allow  the  Pope  to  be  overawed  by  the  Italian  revolutionists. 
'^On  my  proposition,”  he  writes,  ‘Hhe  king  and  his  council  re- 
solved that  if  the  Pope,  threatened  either  from  within  or  without, 
asked  for  our  support,  we  should  give  it  effectually.  Regiments 
were  designated  and  a commander  chosen  for  this  eventful  expe- 
dition. Two  thousand  five  hundred  men  were  held  disposable  at 
Toulon,  and  two  thousand  five  hundred  at  Port  Vendres,  ready  to 
embark  at  the  first  signal  for  Civita  Vecchia.  I had  with  General 
Aupich,  an  officer  as  intelligent  as  he  was  brave,  two  long  consulta- 
tions, which  made  me  feel  sure  that  he  perfectly  understood  what 
we  meant,  and  would  regulate  his  conduct  accordingly.  On  the 
27th  of  Januaiy,  1848,  all  these  measures  were  taken  and  announced 
to  M.  Rossi,  who  was  authorized,  if  he  judged  it  useful  and  proper, 
to  announce  them  to  the  Roman  government.”  * 

Cardinal  Bofondi  arrived  in  Rome  on  the  7th  of  Febmary ; on 
the  10th  a remarkable  proclamation  from  the  Pope  appeared,  bear- 
ing in  every  line  and  sentiment  the  stamp  of  his  firm  and  fatherly 
hand. 

Romans  ! The  pontiff,  who  has  received  from  you,  during  the 
past  two  years,  so  many  proofs  of  love  and  fidelity,  is  not  insensible 
either  to  your  wishes  or  to  your  apprehensions.  We  have  not  for  a 
single  hour  ceased  to  consider  how,  without  infringing  on  the  rights 
of  the  Church,  we  may  best  develop  and  complete  these  civil  institu- 
tions which  we  have  created  of  our  own  free  will,  and  impelled  by 
our  yearning  for  the  happiness  of  our  people  and  our  sense  of  their 
noble  qualities. 

‘^Even  before  the  public  voice  had  uttered  a word  on  the  subject, 
we  had  bestowed  our  attention  on  the  reorganization  of  the  mili- 
tia. . . . We  have  also  increased  the  number  of  laymen  in  our 

council.  As  on  the  mutual  friendliness  toward  each  other  of  the 
Italian  sovereigns  depends  the  preservation  of  the  reforms  they  have 
granted,  we  have  cultivated  friendly  relations  with  them  all. 

‘^Nothing  that  may  contribute  to  the  peace  and  dignity  of  our 
States  shall  be  neglected  by  him  who  is  your  father  and  sovereign, 
, . , who  has  given  you  such  unmistakable  proofs  of  his  care  of 


* Lei  Derniers  Jourt  du  B^gne  de  Louie  PhUippe, 


Appeals  to  his  People. 


179 


yon,  and  who  is  ready  to  give  yon  many  more,  if  God  vonchsafes  to 
hear  his  prayers  so  far  as  to  enable  him  to  see  your  hearts,  and  those 
of  all  Italians,  animated  by  the  peaceful  spirit  of  his  wisdom. 

Listen,  then,  to  the  fatherly  voice  which  seeks  to  inspire  yon 
with  confidence.  Be  not  disturbed  by  the  rumors  spread  all  over 
the  land  by  hidden  agencies  seeking  to  agitate  the  peoples  of  Italy, 
by  holding  up  to  them  the  bugbear  of  a foreign  war,  which  they 
would  have  you  trace  to  domestic  conspiracies  originating  with 
ourselves,  or  to  the  sluggishness  or  unpatriotic  ill-will  of  those  in 
power. 

^‘What  danger,  after  all,  can  threaten  Italy,  so  long  as  a close 
bond  of  confidence  and  gratitude,  unweakened  by  any  violence,  shall 
unite  the  power  of  nations  with  the  wisdom  of  sovereigns  and  the 
sanctity  of  right  ? But  we  especially,  we  the  head  and  supreme 
pontiff  of  the  Catholic  religion,  should  we  not  have  for  our  defense, 
if  unjustly  attacked,  numerous  children,  who  would  protect  their 
father’s  house  in  this  center  of  Catholic  unity  ? Is  it  not  a great 
gift  of  Heaven,  amongst  all  the  favors  lavished  on  Italy,  that  our 
three  millions  of  subjects  have  two  hundred  millions  of  brethren  of 
every  language  and  nationality  ? 

This  is  what  in  other  times  and  amid  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Roman  empire  saved  Rome,  and  prevented  the  utter  ruin  of  Italy. 
This  must  always  be  its  safeguard  so  long  as  the  Apostolic  See 
stands  in  the  heart  of  the  Peninsula.” 

On  the  same  day  Pius  IX.  issued  a special  proclamation  to  his 
army.  Circumstances  are  so  very  serious,”  it  began,  ‘‘  and  the 
condition  of  public  affairs  so  critical,  that  I must  appeal  to  the  civic 
guard.  To  this  body  I intrust  my  own  person  and  my  property,  the 
Sacred  College,  the  life  and  property  of  all  good  citizens,  the  preser- 
vation of  the  public  order  and  tranquillity.  Thereby  I give  this 
body  the  strongest  proof  of  my  confidence,  in  return  for  the  many 
instances  of  affectionate  attachment  received  from  it  in  so  brief  a 
space. 

have  ordered  a special  commission  to  consider  the  various 
measures  of  reform  undertaken  or  contemplated  by  me,  and  to  ex- 
amine how  far  these  reforms  can  be  extended  so  as  to  make  them 
correspond  with  the  needs  and  aspirations  of  the  present  time. 

^‘It  is  also  my  intention  to  increase  the  number  of  members  in  the 
Council  of  State,  and  to  amplify  their  powers.  I have  promised  to 
secularize  the  other  ministerial  offices,  and  to  make  this  change 


i8o 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


permanent.  It  should  have  been  made  ere  this,  if  the  persons  to 
whom  the  offices  were  offered  had  not  proposed  conditions  that  were 
inadmissible.  Nor  can  I ever  admit  them.  For  I will  never  con- 
sent to  anything  contrary  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  or  the  prin- 
ciples of  religion. 

'‘Were  such  conditions  to  be  imposed  on  me  by  force,  and  were  I 
to  be  left  unsupported,  yield  I would  not,  but  should  place  my  entire 
trust  in  Providence. 

" Let  our  citizens  beware  of  evil-minded  persons,  who  make  a pre- 
tense of  seeking  the  public  good,  only  to  overthrow  established  order, 
and  to  possess  themselves  of  the  wealth  of  others. 

"A  constitutional  government  is  not  a new  name  or  a new  thing 
in  the  Pontifical  States.  Countries  that  now  possess  it  have  copied 
it  from  us.  We  had  a real  House  of  Eepresentatives  in  the  college 
of  Consistorial  Advocates,  and  a House  of  Peers  in  the  Sacred  Col- 
lege, until  the  reign  of  Sixtus  V.” 

The  substance  of  this  proclamation  was  communicated  first  to 
the  commanders  of  the  civic  guard  by  the  Pope  himself.  "Gentle- 
men,” said  the  Holy  Father,  " I have  called  you  hither  to  ask  you 
whether  I can  rely  on  your  fidelity  and  co-operation  ? ” " Yes  ; rely 

on  us.  Holy  Father.”  " Can  I also  rely  on  the  fidelity  and  support 
of  the  civic  guard  ? ” ■ There  was  a deep  and  painful  silence ; the 
officers  hung  their  heads  in  shame.  But  the  Pope,  who  half  ex- 
pected this,  was  not  shaken  in  his  purpose.  He  then  read  them  the 
proclamation,  blessed  them,  and  with  affectionate  words  dismissed 
them. 

The  effect  of  these  proclamations  was  at  first  excellent : people 
read  the  words  of  the  sovereign  with  respect  and  emotion.  They 
knew  they  were  the  unfeigned  expression  of  a deep  fatherly  love- 
But  it  was  resolved  to  go  in  procession  to  the  Quirinal  to  thank  the 
sovereign  for  what  he  had  accomplished  and  for  the  further  promises 
held  out  to  his  subjects.  This  was  the  usual  way  in  which  the  Ead- 
icals  turned  every  burst  of  genuine  popular  affection  to  their  own 
purpose. 

So  there  was  a torchlight  procession  in  the  evening.  " Conspic- 
uous among  the  crowd,”  says  Legge,  " were  four  bodies  of  ecclesi- 
astics, ' flanked  by  two  tricolor  flags,  and  having  the  Pope’s  colors 
between  them,  while  they  all  wore  tricolor  tassels.’  The  pontiff 
showed  himself  at  the  balcony,  and  intimated  his  wish  to  address 
the  crowd.  The  silence  was  profound,  and  he  spoke  as  follows  ; 


Protests  Agahist  Scditiozis  Cries,  i8i 

^ Before  fhe  benediction  of  God  descends  upon  you,  on  the  rest 
of  my  people,  and — I say  it  again — on  all  Italy,  I pray  you  to  be  of 
one  mind,  and  to  keep  the  faith  you  have  sworn  to  me  the  Pontiff.’ 

'‘At  these  words  the  silence  of  deep  feeling  was  broken  by  a 
sudden  thunder  of  acclamation,  'Yes,  I swear !’  and  Pius  IX.  pro- 
ceeded : 

" 'I  warn  you,  however,  against  the  raising  of  certain  cries  that 
are  not  of  the  people  but  of  a few  individuals,  and  against  making 
any  such  requests  to  me  as  are  incompatible  with  the  sanctity  of  the 
Church  ; for  these  I cannot,  I may  not,  and  I will  not  grant.  This 
being  understood,  with  my  whole  soul  I bless  you.’”  * 

The  "cries”  here  alluded  to,  as  Legge  remarks,  "were  the  threats 
against  the  Jesuits,  to  which  the  streets  of  Rome  had  so  often  re- 
sounded of  late,  and  which  had  deeply  wounded  him  (the  Pope).” 

The  "requests”  were  the  urgent  demands  of  aggressive  measures 
toward  Austria  which  would  directly  lead  to  'war,  the  utter  seculari- 
zation of  all  the  government  ministries,  leaving  none  but  laymen 
even  to  manage  ecclesiastical  matters  with  foreign  powers,  and  the 
abdication  of  so  much  of  his  own  prerogatives  as  would  deprive  him 
of  all  real  independence  and  freedom  in  the  discharge  of  his  spiritual 
sovereignty.  To  these  may  be  added  the  demands  made  unceasingly 
for  the  suppression  and  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  as  if  he  believed 
them  guilty  of  the  intrigues,  ambition,  and  enormities  imputed  to 
them  by  the  enemies  of  religion  ! These  were  manifestly  at  variance 
with  the  justice  and  sanctity  of  the  Church,  and  the  purity  of  his 
own  office  as  the  supreme  judge  and  common  parent  of  Christians. 

One  object  of  the  conspirators  in  Rome,  and  throughout  all  the 
cities  of  the  Pontifical  States,  was  to  render  these  "cries”  and 
"requests”  so  frequent  and  so  violent,  and  to  make  them  the  occa- 
sion of  such  tumult  and  disorder,  that  foreigners  residing  in  Italy 
might  easily  conclude  that  these  utterances  represented  the  true  sen- 
timent of  the  entire  mass  of  the  population. 

It  is  against  this  conclusion  so  industriously  spread  through  Italy 
by  the  radical  press,  and  so  unhesitatingly  adopted  by  the  liberal  and 
Protestant  journals  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  that  Pius  IX. 
caused  the  cardinal  Secretary  of  State  to  protest  in  a circular  ad- 
dressed to  the  governors  of  the  pontifical  provinces,  and  dated  on 
February  the  28th : 


* “Pius  IX.,”  i.  218,  219. 


i82 


Life  of  Pope.  Pius  IX, 


''The  majority  of  the  Holy  Father’s  subjects,”  the  circular 
affirmed,  "have  shown  themselves  most  grateful  for  these  benefi- 
cent changes,  as  well  as  worthy  of  enjoying  them.  But  it  is — and 
we  deeply  deplore  it — but  too  true  that  some  sowers  of  discord  and 
disorder  have  stained  the  national  honor,  and  have  made  foreign 
nations  believe  that  the  crimes  of  a few  were  the  acts  of  the  major- 
ity, whereas  the  latter  were  absolutely  guiltless  of  them. 

" The  heart  of  the  Holy  Father  has  been  deeply  wounded  by  the 
ingratitude  of  these  lawless  agitators,  who  are  the  enemies  of  all  order 
and  morality.  But  what  fills  his  soul  with  bitterness  is  to  learn 
that  in  some  parts  of  the  pontifical  territory  riotous  assemblages 
have  dared  to  expel  certain  religious  communities,  by  threatening 
them  with  the  worst  violence  and  ordering  them  to  quit  the  country. 

"In  our  age,  when  people  praise  so  highly  and  claim  as  a common 
blessing  legality,  moderation,  and  humanity,  one  might  expect  far 
other  deeds  from  the  professed  lovers  of  freedom.  In  his  quality  of 
sovereign  and  of  head  of  the  Catholic  religion,  his  Holiness  must 
condemn  publicly  outrages  that  disgrace  our  civilization,  and  are  in 
such  manifest  opposition  with  that  liberty  in  whose  cause  they  are 
perpetrated.  ” 

We  must  pause  before  concluding  this  chapter,  and  give  some  an- 
swer to  a difficulty  which  must  be  in  the  minds  of  many  readers. 

How  could  the  Mazzinian  conspirators  have  rendered  abortive  all 
the  attempts  at  reformation  made  by  the  Pope,  if  the  majority  in 
Rome  and  throughout  its  dependent  teritories  were  not  bitterly 
hostile  to  a priestly  government  ? 

With  Americans  it  is  well-nigh  a foregone  conclusion  that  the  al- 
most totality  of  the  Pope’s  subjects  bore  his  yoke  because  its  intoler- 
able weight  was  riveted  round  their  necks  by  the  hand  of  inexora- 
ble fate,  and  that  now  that  it  has  been  removed,  they  rejoice  with 
unanimous  delight  at  the  recovery  of  unhoped-for  freedom.  Amer- 
ican writers  and  travelers  cite  in  proof  of  this  position  the  almost 
unanimity  with  which  the  people  have  accepted  the  change  of  rulers 
and  voted  for  the  king  of  Italy  instead  of  the  Pope. 

Assuredly  the  political  experiences  of  the  last  presidential  election 
ought  to  render  us,  well  accustomed  as  we  are  to  the  working  of 
free  institutions  and  the  use  of  the  ballot-box,  slow  to  pronounce 
about  electoral  majorities  or  "unanimity  of  suffrages.”  But  we 
should  show  ourselves  to  be  the  slaves  of  blind  religious  and  politi- 
cal passion  in  prejudging  the  Roman  question,  if  we  did  not  recall 


The  Majority  of  the  People  7iot  Revolutionists.  183 


how  at  the  beginning  of  our  late  civil  war  a determined  minority  in 
the  Free  States  could  neutralize  the  opposition  of  the  majority,  and 
excite  men  to  an  anti-slavery  crusade,  while  an  equally  determined 
minority  in  the  South  could  carry  away  the  vast  majority  into  war. 
In  the  beginning,  with  its  calamities,  that  war  is  acknowledged  to 
have  been  the  work  of  a knot  of  professed  politicians  on  both  sides, 
who  knew  exactly  what  they  purposed,  and  forced  the  bulk  of  the 
nation,  step  by  step,  to  become  the  instruments  of  their  own  designs. 

And  on  both  sides  the  overwhelming  majority  confessed,  that  the 
government  and  constitution  sought  to  be  set  aside  were  the  best 
that  ever  blessed  a country  and  a people  ! 

There  was  not  a city  in  the  South,  ere  yet  a gun  had  been  fired  in 
rebellion,  in  which  all  who  were  most  enlightened  and  wealthy  and 
patriotic,  did  not  deplore  the  headlong  passion  which  hurried  State 
after  State  into  the  first  fatal  steps  that  led  to  separation  and  to 
bloodshed. 

There  was  not  a county  outside  the  cities,  in  which  the  immense 
majority  of  the  farmers — the  independent,  honest,  and  true  lovers  of 
their  country — were  not  devotedly  attached  to  the  Union.  It  is  no 
secret,  at  this  day,  by  what  artifices  and  manoeuvres  they  were 
carried  away  into  the  general  movement.  Nor  have  the  Free  States 
forgotten,  that  by  a like  strategy  was  brought  about  the  moral  com- 
pulsion which  arrayed  their  sons  in  defense  of  the  national  life. 
We  have  all  learned  by  bitter  experience  to  count  our  gains  and  our 
losses  ; may  we  learn  daily  more  and  more  how  to  cherish  the  spirit 
of  true  freedom,  never  found  where  there  is  not  true  charity,  and 
the  patient  toleration  of  imperfection  in  all  human  laws,  and  of  the 
manifold  defects  inseparable  from  human  nature  ! The  ideal  best” 
in  human  institutions  is  the  practical  best.” 

It  is  not  to  be  imagined  for  a moment  that  the  wishes  or  the  wants, 
or  even  the  freedom,  of  the  majority  were  respected  or  consulted  in 
the  Pontifical  States  by  the  men  whose  interest  or  whose  aim  it 
was  to  overturn  both  Church  and  State.  Eevolutions,  in  modern 
times  at  least,  are  the  work  of  the  great  cities,  especially  when  the 
revolutionary  purpose  is  to  destroy,  not  to  preserve.  The  American 
revolution,  like  that  in  England,  was  essentially  conservative ; so 
was  our  late  civil  war  conservative  on  both  sides  in  the  main  pur- 
pose. The  revolution  at  present  set  in  throughout  Great  Britain, 
and  inaugurated  by  Palmerston  and  Gladstone’s  evil  genius,  is  essen- 
tially subversive.  It  is  the  radical,  anti-Christian,  godless  spirit  of 


184 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Mazzim  and  Garibaldi  that  Gladstone  has  enthroned  in  the  refonna 
made  by  him.  Is  this  Dagon  introduced  into  the  old  Catholic  sanc- 
tuary of  the  British  constitution  to  be  upset  and  dashed  to  pieces  by 
the  living  spirit  of  the  place  ? or  is  that  spirit  of  Christian  wisdom, 
liberty,  and  humanity  to  be  driven  by  the  usurping  fiend  from  its 
hallowed  dwelling-place  ? We  shall  see  ere  long. 

It  was  the  endeavor  of  Pius  IX.  to  reform,  to  improve,  to  enlarge, 
and  to  consolidate.  Such  was  not  the  purpose  of  Mazzini.  Let  it 
not  be  supposed  that  the  independent,  wealthy,  enlightened,  and 
truly  Christian  populations  of  the  cities  were  in  favor  of  the  Radi- 
cals. We  know,  from  the  extracts  quoted  in  the  earlier  chapters  of 
this  work,  that  the  rural  populations  were  not.  Are  they  so  still,  in 
town  and  country  ? 

There  are  writers  who  affirm  it  unhesitatingly.  But  where  do 
they  obtain  their  information  ? From  every  source  that  is  hostile 
to  the  Holy  See,  or  even  to  religion  itself.  Naturalists  tell  us  how 
the  delicious  and  wholesome  fiesh  of  the  bonito  becomes  rank  poison 
near  some  of  the  coral  reefs  of  South  America,  where  the  fish  feeds 
on  certain  substances.  How  can  Protestant  writers  and  travelers 
obtain  any  but  the  most  unwholesome  information,  seeing  that  they 
seek  it  only  at  every  poisoned  source  ? 

Men  who  will  leave  the  beaten  paths  of  travel,  eschew  the  inter- 
ested and  lying  gossip  of  hotels  and  innkeepers,  and  seek  the  Italian 
farmer  in  his  home,  will  soon  find  out  that  he  and  his  fellows  have 
not  fought  to  oust  the  Pope  ; that  they  would  rather  fight  to  restore 
his  fatherly  reign.  And  they  will  find  the  same  to  hold  true  of  the 
city  population  who  have  not  been  lifted  into  wealth  and  position  by 
the  wave  of  radical  revolution. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Radical  Hatked  of  the  Modekate  Liberals— Rossi  Rebukes 
THE  War  Party — Difficulty  ih  Framing  a Constitu- 
tion— Its  Features — First  Constitutional  Ministry — 
War  in  Lombardy — The  Pope  acts  on  the  Defensive — 
His  General  Proclaims  a Crusade — The  Pope  protests 
solemnly — Rage  of  Young  Italy. 

February-Apkil,  1848. 

The  insurrection  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples  had  forced  the  king 
to  grant  his  subjects  a new  constitution,  with  guarantees  that 
it  should  not  remain  a dead  letter.  The  commotion  produced  in 
Rome  by  this  intelligence  had  not  subsided  when  the  city  was  elec- 
trified by  the  tidings  of  the  catastrophe  in  France,  which  had  driven 
into  exile  Louis  Phili  ppe  and  his  family.  Then  came  news  of  the 
grant  of  a liberal  constitution  by  the  king  of  Sardinia  to  his  subjects. 
The  Mazzinians  took  no  further  pains  to  conceal  their  triumph  or  to 
boast  of  the  mighty  forces  at  their  disposal.  They  were  the  rulers  of 
Rome  ; they  knew  it,  and  all  were  soon  made  to  feel  it. 

The  Moderate  Liberal  party  were  thrust  aside,  and  looked  upon  by 
the  triumphant  Radicals  with  a distrust  and  a hatred  which  success 
only  intensified  instead  of  softening.  Thenceforward  Young  Italy 
pursued  the  friends  and  advocates  of  constitutional  liberty  with  a 
ferocity  scarcely  excelled  by  that  displayed  toward  priestly  govern- 
ment and  its  supporters. 

Rossi,  on  whom  they  always  looked  with  aversion,  and  whose  plans 
for  defeating  their  ultimate  purpose  they  knew  but  too  well,  had 
fallen  from  his  position  as  ambassador,  and  could  no  longer  prop  up 
by  his  own  dignity  the  fallen  fortunes  of  the  Moderates.  He  went 
for  a time  to  Carrara,  his  native  place,  and  then  returned  to  Rome, 
loath  to  quit  Italy,  partly  through  love  for  his  native  land,  but 
chiefly,  it  is  thought,  because  he  was  made  to  believe  his  counsels 
might  help  the  Pope  in  the  crisis  of  Roman  affairs.  His  stay,  and 

185 


i86 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


tlie  confidence  reposed  in  Lim  by  tbe  court  and  by  all  wbo  were  not 
extreme  Radicals  or  extreme  Conservatives,  was  resented  by  tbe  clubs 
as  an  insult  to  what  they  considered  to  be  Italian  ‘^patriotism.’’ 

One  can  with  difficulty  conceive  of  the  deadly  hate  vowed  against 
Rossi  from  that  moment,  without  recalling  to  mind  that  statesman’s 
courageous  rebuke  to  the  agitators  during  the  ferment  caused  in 
Rome  by  the  occupation  of  Ferrara  by  the  Austrians. 

“ What  do  you  propose  to  yourselves,”  he  hesitated  not  to  say,  “ by 
your  incessant  provocations  against  Austria  ? It  is  not  threatening 
you  ; it  confines  itself  to  the  limits  which  the  treaties  have  assigned. 
It  is  a war  of  independence  which  you  would  invoke.  Be  it  so.  Let 
us  calculate  your  forces : you  have  GO, 000  regular  troops  in  Pied- 
mont, and  not  a man  more. 

“You  speak  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Italian  populations.  I know 
them.  Pass  among  them  from  one  end  of  the  country  -to  the  other ; 
see  if  a heart  beats,  if  a man  moves,  if  an  arm  is  ready  to  begin  the 
fight. 

“ The  Piedmontese  once  beaten,  the  Austrians  may  go  from  Reg- 
gio to  Calabria  without  meeting  a single  Italian.  I understand  you  \ 
you  will  apply  to  France.  A fine  result,  truly,  of  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence, to  bring  foreign  armies  again  upon  your  soil ! The  Aus- 
trians and  the  French  fighting  on  the  soil  of  Italy  ! Is  not  that  your 
sad,  your  eternal  story  ? 

“You  would  be  independent ; we  are  so  already.  France  is  not  a 
corporal  in  the  service  of  Italy.  She  makes  war  when  she  pleases, 
and  for  whom  she  pleases.  She  does  not  place  her  standards  or  her 
battalions  under  the  command  of  a stranger.” 

These  words  were  to  be  Rossi’s  death  sentence.  But  events  were 
hastening  forward  with  such  velocity  that  he  forgot  self  amid  the 
more  anxious  cares  for  the  public  welfare.  The  demand  for  a parlia- 
mentary government  was  now  loudly  made  by  the  Roman  press. 
Even  the  most  serious-minded  among  the  upper  classes  were  moved 
by  the  evident  necessity  of  further  and  instant  concession. 

The  commission  named  by  the  supreme  pontiff  had  been  for  some 
time  elaborating  a plan  suitable  to  the  mixed  nature  of  a government, 
charged  on  the  one  hand  not  only  with  the  civil,  but  with  the  relig- 
ious administration  of  the  Papal  States,  and  on  the  other  with  the 
supreme  control  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  every  country  under  the 
sun.  Such  a government  should  never  have  been  allowed  by  all 
Christian  peoples  to  become  the  plaything  of  revolution,  or  to  be 


Difficulty  in  Framing  a Comtitution.  187 

exposed  in  its  weakness  to  tlie  Yolcanic  passions  that  were  about  to 
overturn  everything. 

This  was  the  real  difficulty  with  the  Pope — so  to  balance  the 
attributions  of  the  various  bodies  he  was  about  to  call  into  existence, 
that  the  forces  utilized  to  promote  the  temporal  welfare  of  the  papal 
subjects  should  not  interfere  with  the  authority  that  watched  over 
their  religious  interests  ; and  that  the  measure  of  constitutional 
authority  vested  in  a lay  ministry  should  not  absorb  the  right, 
divinely  given  and  inalienable,  of  feeding  the  universal  flock  of 
Christ.  It  was  no  small  honor,  a source  of  no  trifling  increase  of 
temporal  wealth  and  influence  to  the  Roman  State,  that  it  had  as 
brethren  and  spiritual  subjects  two  hundred  millions  of  Christians 
spread  all  over  the  earth. 

Men  who  have  never  taken  the  time,  or  who  will  not  take  the 
pains  to  consider  these  most  important  and  venerable  relations  of 
the  Roman  State  with  the  entire  human  family,  inveigh  blindly 
and  passionately  against  Pius  IX.  for  not  abdicating  his  temporal 
sovereignty  into  the  hands  of  the  Radicals,  or  blame  with  equal 
ignorance  and  arrogance  the  Church  for  retaining  a secular  power 
incompatible  (as  they  think)  with  the  free  discharge  of  her  apostle- 
ship. 

When  Prince  Corsini,  president  of  the  senate,  with  his  brother 
magistrates,  waited  on  the  Pope  to  urge  the  necessity  of  granting  a 
constitution,  the  Holy  Father  received  them  with  his  usual  gentle 
courtesy.  He  was  not  unprepared  for  the  visit  or  the  request. 

Everybody  knows,”  he  said  in  reply,  that  I have  been  incessantly 
occupied  with  the  labor  of  giving  the  government  the  form  claimed 
. . . What  can  be  effected  in  one  night  in  a secfllar  State  can- 
not be  accomplished  without  mature  examination  in  Rome.  . . . 

I hope  that  in  a few  days  the  Constitution  will  be  ready,  . . . 

calculated  to  satisfy  the  people,  and  more  particulary  the  Senate  and 
council.  . . . May  the  Almighty  bless  my  desires  and  labors  ! 

If  religion  derives  any  advantage  therefrom,  I shall  cast  myself  at 
the  feet  of  the  Crucifled  to  thank  him,  ...  . and  I shall  feel 

deeper  satisfaction  as  the  supreme  pastor  than  as  the  temporal 
sovereign,  if  these  changes  only  help  to  promote  the  divine  glory.” 

We  now  hasten  to  recount  what  followed.  The  promise  scarcely 
allayed  the  excitement  of  the  masses  led  by  Sterbini  and  Galletti,  for 
it  was  known  that  the  commission  appointed  to  draw  up  the  con- 
stitution contained  not  one  lay  member.  When  it  was  promulgated. 


i88 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX. 


March  14,  this  charter,  or  ^fundamental  statute/  was  seen  Uy  all 
acquainted  with  parliamentary  institutions  to  contain  irreconcilable 
elements. 

First  in  order  of  dignity  was  the  college  of  cardinals,  which 
was  irresponsible  and  deliberated  in  secret  consistory ; next  was  a 
council  of  State,  appointed  by  the  Pope,  whose  province  it  was  to 
frame  laws  and  advise  the  sovereign  on  all  weighty  political  questions. 
Then  came  the  parliament  proper,  formed  of  two  chambers  ; the 
upper  chamber  composed  of  members  nominated  for  life  by  the 
sovereign,  and  the  chamber  of  deputies,  composed  of  members 
elected  on  the  basis  of  one  deputy  for  every  constituency  of  30,000 
souls. 

In  legislation  the  initiative  belonged  to  the  ministers,  but  a bill 
might  be  introduced  by  any  deputy  on  the  demand  of  ten  of  his 
colleagues.  The  legislative  powers  of  the  lower  chamber  were 
restricted 'to  purely  secular  affairs.  Ecclesiastical  or  mixed  matters 
were  reserved  to  the  consistory.”* 

A new  ministry  was  announced  on  March  the  10th,  composed  of 
Cardinal  Antonelli,  president  of  the  council,  and  minister  of  foreign 
affairs ; Eecchi,  minister  of  the  interior ; Minghetti,  minister  of 
public  works ; Pasolini,  minister  of  commerce,  and  Farini,  pro- 
minister of  the  interior.  These  were  leaders  in  the  Moderate  party. 
Cardinal  ^lezzofanti  was  minister  of  public  instruction ; Prince 
Aldobrandini  was  minister  of  war,  and  the  notorious  G-alletti,  minis- 
ter of  police. 

The  strong  debt  of  gratitude  which  this  man  owed  to  Pius  IX. 
would,  it  was  hoped,  keep  him  to  his  oath  of  fidelity  ; his  nomina- 
tion was  also  a concession  to  the  Eadicals.  It  was  a sad  blunder. 
The  ministry  lost  not  a moment  in  announcing  that  their  sole  desire 
was  to  execute  and  perfect  the  new  charter  of  constitutional  freedom  ; 
to  call  the  best  men  to  office  ; to  place  the  country  in  a state  of 
defense  ; to  replenish  the  treasury  through  the  contributions  of  the 
municipalities  and  religious  congregations  ; and  to  establish  a firm 
accord  with  the  other  constitutional  governments  of  Italy. 

‘^Although  the  times  grew  violent,”  says  Farini,  ‘‘the  ministry, 
from  the  first  days  of  its  existence,  discharged  the  political  duties  of 
government  with  forethought.”  Meanwhile  there  was  an  insurrec- 
tion in  Berlin,  the  king  of  Prussia  being  forced,  after  three  days’ 


* The  author,  “ American  Cycloptedia,”  vol.  xiii.,  p.  563. 


First  Constitutional  Ministry, 


189 


Ggl.ting,  to  kiss  the  tricolor  flag,  the  proscribed  emblem  of  German 
unity ; the  Emperor  Ferdinand  of  Austria  was  forced  to  resign 
after  granting  his  States  a constitution ; the  Milanese  had  risen 
against  their  Austrian  garrison  ; and  Piedmont,  it  was  asserted,  was 
arming  to  drive  the  last  foreigner  beyond  the  Alps.  It  were  as  easy, 
under  the  increasing  emotion  of  these  events,  to  arrest  the  down- 
ward flow  of  lava  from  Vesuvius  or  Etna,  as  to  moderate  the  feelings 
of  the  Eoman  populace. 

^^The  republic  was  proclaimed  in  Venice,  and  Lombardy  was  in 
full  insurrection.  Piedmont  had  declared  against  the  Austrians, 
and  the  Pope  was  urged  by  his  ministers  to  espouse  the  cause  of  his 
country  and  declare  war.  It  is  impossible,  from  the  contradictory 
statements  of  the  conduct  of  Pius  IX.  at  this  juncture,  to  determine 
exactly  how  far  his  conduct  is  blameworthy,  if  at  all.  Among  his 
ministers  were  laymen  imposed  upon  him  by  necessity,  but  whose 
counsels  especially  in  what  concerned  his  relations  with  foreign 
powers,  or  in  the  management  of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  he  either 
openly  rejected  or  secretly  thwarted.  He  refused  to  declare  war 
against  Austria,  but  blessed  his  troops  ere  they  departed  for  the 
frontier,  and  gave  the  most  explicit  instructions  to  their  commander, 
General  Durando,  that  his  action  was  to  be  purely  defensive.  In  spite 
of  this,  the  Roman  minister  of  war,  Aldobrandini,  wrote  to  Durando, 
March  28,  to  act  in  concert  with  Charles  Albert.  At  the  same  time 
the  Pope  urged  Monsignor  Corboli-Bussi  to  obtain  from  the  Pied- 
montese government  a speedy  assent  to  the  meeting  in  Rome  of  an 
Italian  Diet  for  the  establishment  of  a customs  union  and  a national 
confederation.  Thereby  the  Pope  hoped  to  be  able  to  act  as  media- 
tor toward  Austria,  and  to  offer  peace  on  the  part  of  an  united  Italy, 
on  condition  that  Italy  should  be  left  free  to  govern  herself. 

‘‘But  while  the  Piedmontese  cabinet  were  procrastinating,  Aldo- 
brandini instructed  Corboli-Bussi  to  follow  the  head-quarters  of 
Charles  Albert,  and  negotiate 'a  loan  for  defraying  the  expenses  of 
the  Roman  contingent  as  a condition  toward  their  joining  his  forces. 
At  the  same  time  permission  was  given  to  the  king  of  Naples  to 
march  an  army  through  the  Papal  States  on  their  way  to  join  the 
Lombards  and  Piedmontese. 

At  this  juncture  Count  Rossi,  residing  in  Rome  in  a private 
capacity,  wrote  : The  national  sentiment  and  its  ardor  for  war  are 
a sword,  a weapon,  a mighty  force ; either  Pius  IX.  must  take  it 
resolutely  in  hand,  or  the  factions  hostile  to  him  will  sieze  it,  and 


190 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


turn  it  against  him  and  against  the  papacy.”  Just  then,  too,  the 
Moderate  editors  of  the  Contemporaneo  joined  General  Durando’s 
camp,  and  this  journal  fell  into  the  hands  of  Sterbini,  and  became 
thenceforward  a potent  engine  of  the  revolution.  Volunteers  had 
increased  the  number  of  the  papal  troops  to  25,000  before  the  end  of 
March.  On  April  25  the  ministers  united  in  beseeching  the  Pope 
to  speak  his  will  about  the  war,  affirming  that  to  declare  against  it 
' would  most  seriously  compromise  the  temporal  dominion  of  the 
Holy  See.’  On  April  29  the  declaration  was  made  in  consistory,  and 
w^as  decidedly  opposed  to  war  wdth  Austria.  The  ministry  resigned, 
and  the  city  'was  once  more  filled  with  arms  and  tumult,  the  civic 
guard  siding  with  the  mob.  It  was  suggested  to  the  Pope,  whom 
no  threat-  could  terrify  into  yielding  to  the  popular  clamor,  that  he 
should  himself  go  to  Milan  and  mediate  a peace  founded  on  the  lib- 
eration of  Italy.  He  consented,  but  the  Austrian  envoy  scouted  the 
idea,  and  it  was  abandoned.  Pius  was  now  virtually  a prisoner  in 
the  Quirinal,  while  the  dwellings  of  the  cardinals  were  guarded  by 
sentries.  The  press  and  the  clubs  began  to  discuss  the  necessity  of 
an  immediate  alliance  with  the  Piedmontese,  and  the  urgency  of 
abolishing  the  papal  rule.”  * 

Two  documents  merit  especial  mention  here  : the  proclamation  of 
General  Durando  to  his  troops  on  April  the  5th,  and  the  consistorial 
allocution  of  April  the  29th.  TVe  have  already  seen  that  Durando 
was  a Piedmontese,  wholly  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Italian  independ- 
ence, in  so  far  as  it  tended  to  promote  the  supremacy  of  the  house 
of  Savoy.  He  had  chosen  for  aid-de-camp  Massimo  d’Azeglio,  'who 
thus  gave  up  his  direction  of  the  Contemporaneo  to  wield  the  sword 
for  Italy. 

It  was  everywhere  understood  among  the  masses  in  Central  and 
Northern  Italy  that  Pius  IX.  sanctioned  the  war  against  Austria. 
His  general  and  his  ministers  Imew  better;  but  they  were  deter- 
mined to  confirm,  so  far  as  they  might,  the  popular  belief  that  the 
Pope  had  authorized  a kind  of  crusade  against  the  foreigners,  and 
they  acted  accordingly.  The  Pope  had  given  the  clearest  and  most 
positive  orders  to  Durando  that  he  should  content  himself  with  de- 
fending the  frontier  of  the  Papal  States ; but  Aldobrandini,  minister 
of  war,  commanded  him  to  cross  the  Po,  which  was  an  act  of  bel- 
ligerency. D’Azeglio  thereupon  drew  up  the  following  order  of  the 


* “American  Cyclopaedia/’  vol.  xiii.,  p.  5G8. 


A.  Crusade  Proclaimed  in  the  Popes  Namer  191 

day,  and  Durando  published  it,  belieying,  both  of  them  perhaps, 
that  they  would  thus  force  the  Pope  into  open  and  formal  hos- 
tility : 

‘‘  Soldiers  ! the  noble  land  of  Lombardy,  in  times  past  the  glorious 
theater  of  a war  of  independence,  when  Alexander  III.  gave  his 
blessing  to  the  oath  of  Pontida,*  is  now  trodden  anew  by  heroes, 
whose  perils  and  triumphs  we  are  about  to  share.  They,  as  well  as 
we,  have  been  blessed  by  the  right  hand  of  the  pontiff,  just  as  were 
our  forefathers  in  that  remote  age. 

^^He — holy,  just,  and  gentle  above  all  men  as  he  is — has  neverthe- 
less acknowledged  the  last  recourse  to  arms  to  be  the  only  one  just 
and  possible  weapon  against  an  enemy  who  tramples  on  every  right 
and  law,  both  di'v'ine  and  human.  That  heavenly  heart  of  his  could 
not  but  be  saddened  at  the  thought  of  the  evils  accompanying  war ; 
could  not  forget  that  all  those  who  are  now  entering  into  the  battle- 
field, whatever  be  their  flag,  are  his  children. 

He  sought  to  give  time  for  repentance  ; and  the  word  which  was 
to  become  the  instrument  of  divine  vengeance,  lingered  on  his  august 
lip.  But  the  time  came  when  gentleness  must  have  degenerated 
into  a guilty  connivance  at  iniquity.  That  man  of  God,  who  had 
wept*  over  the  massacres  of  the  3d  of  January,  while  hoping  that 
they  were  only  the  results  of  the  brutal  but  passing  excesses  of  a 
licentious  soldiery,  has  now  found  reason  to  own  that  Italy,  unless 
she  can  protect  herself,  is  doomed  by  the  Austrian  government  to 
pillage,  rape,  and  the  ferocity  of  a savage  soldiery — to  fire,  to  mas- 
sacre, to  total  destruction. 

^^He  has  seen  Eadetzky  make  war  against  the  cross  of  Christ,  beat 
down  the  gates  of  the  sanctuary,  dash  into  it  with  his  horse,  profane 
the  altar,  and  violate  the  ashes  of  our  fathers  with  his  foul  band  of 
Croats. 

^^The  holy  pontiff  has  blessed  your  swords,  which,  when  united 
to  those  under  Charles  Albert,  are  to  work  concurrently  for  the  ex- 
termination of  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  Italy,  of  the  men  who 
have  outraged  Piux  IX.  and  the  Church  of  Mantua,  who  have  assas- 


* Called  also  tbe  **  Lombard  League,”  formed  under  tbe  presidency  of  Pope 
Alexander  III.,  in  1167,  by  Venice,  Verona,  Milan,  Vicenza,  Padua,  and  all  tbe 

cities  of  Northern  Italy  against  the  Emperor  Frederick  Barbarossa.  He  had 
destroyed  Milan  and  dispersed  her  inhabitants.  The  indomitable  energy  of 
Alexander  sustained  his  allies  till  they  defeated  the  emperor  at  Legnano,  Maj 
29,  1176,  and  in  1183  compelled  him  to  sign  the  peace  of  Constance. 


192 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


sinated  our  Lombard  brothers,  and  by  their  enormities  have  placed 
themselves  beyond  every  laAV. 

‘‘  Such  a vrar  of  civilization  against  barbarism  is  not  only  national 
but  eminently  Christian.  It  is  fitting,  then,  soldiers,  and  I have 
determined  that  we  shall  all,  as  we  are  marching  in  its  behalf,  be 
decorated  with  the  cross  of  Christ.  All  who  belong  to  this  corps 
of  operation  will  carry  that  symbol  over  the  heart,  of  the  pattern 
which  they  shall  see  on  mine. 

With  this  and  by  this  we  shall  conquer,  as  our  fathers  did.  Be 
this  our  battle-cry,  ‘ God  wills  it ! ’ ” 

The  wearing  of  the  cross,  like  the  crusaders  of  old,  was  a device 
that  originated  in  the  fertile  brain  of  the  notorious  Barnabite  monk 
Gavazzi,  who,  after  having  played  chaplain  to  the  sects”  in  Rome, 
and  distinguished  himself  in  street  riots  and  half-sacrilegious  pro- 
cessions, had  followed  the  army  of  Durando  in  the  quality  of  self- 
appointed  chaplain-in-chief.  He  became,  during  this  disastrous  cam- 
paign, a potent  instrument  of  disorder  and  sedition,  the  advocate 
and  promoter  of  the  violence  and  foul  immorality  which  stained 
Bologna,  and  not  the  least  powerful  agent  of  the  frenzied  radicalism 
that  made  Rome  hideous  with  bloodshed  and  anarchy. 

They  had  thus  fired  the  national  soul  with  the  belief  that  Pius  IX. 
had  authorized  a crusade  against  Austria  ! The  Pope’s  lay  ministers 
were  most  desirous  that  this  impression  should  be  confirmed  by 
subsequent  acts  of  the  sovereign  pontiff.  It  was  in  vain  that  he 
protested  on  April  the  10th  by  a brief  note  inserted  in  the  official 
gazette.  The  tidings  were  stirring  the  hearts  of  all  Italian  men  and 
women  alike,  and  sending  thousands  to  the  field  in  the  cause  of  God 
and  Italy. 

Xo  doubt  Pius  IX.  fervently  wished  for  the  independence  and 
greatness  of  his  native  land.  The  efforts  he  was  then  making  to 
create  a confederated  Italy  had  the  sanction  of  the  best  minds  and 
noblest  souls  in  the  Peninsula.  But  he  was  the  common  father,  and 
no  amount  of  pressure  could  induce  him  to  violate  his  conscience 
and  his  duty  as  such,  by  lending  himself  to  an  aggressive  war  against 
a Christian  power.  On  the  25th  of  April  the  lay  members  of  the 
papal  cabinet  presented  a most  urgent  petition  to  the  Holy  Father 
urging  upon  his  attention  the  fact,  that  it  was  impossible  to  make 
the  Italian  peojjle  believe  any  longer  that  the  Roman  troops  had 
only  been  sent  to  the  frontier  to  guard  it,  while  their  brothers  were 
fighting  beyond  it  to  defend  the  common  cause.  Your  Holiness,” 


The  Pope  Solemnly  Protests. 


193 


they  submitted,  either  allow  your  subjects  to  make  war;  or 

declare  your  will  absolutely  against  making  war ; or,  finally,  that, 
though  desirous  of  peace,  you  cannot  preyent  making  war.’’  They 
then  declared  in  conclusion  that  war  was  the  sole  means  of  be- 
stowing on  Italy,  disorganized  as  she  was,  such  a national  and 
durable  peace  as  could  only  proceed  from  the  righteous  recovery  of 
our  national  existence.” 

On  the  29th  of  April  the  Sacred  College  met,  and  the  Pope  ad- 
dressed to  them  an  allocution  which  was  decisive  of  his  fate  for  the 
present. 

‘^Venerable  Brothers,”  it  says,  '^we  have  more  than  once  pro- 
tested in  your  presence  against  the  audacity  of  certain  persons  who 
blush  not  to  aflBrm  to  the  injury  of  this  Apostolic  See  and  of  our 
own  authority,  that  not  in  one  point  alone  we  have  departed  from 
the  teaching  of  our  predece&sors,  nay,  from  the  very  doctrine  of  the 
Church.  More  than  that,  there  are  men  who  at  this  moment  speak 
of  us  as  if  we  were  the  chief  author  of  the  recent  social  commotions. 

. . . We  have  even  learned  that  in  Austria  and  Germany  the 

people  are  taught  to  look  upon  us  as  one  who  had  excited  the  peoples 
of  Italy,  through  emissaries  and  by  other  means,  to  upset  the  estab- 
lished order  of  things.  Hence,  as  we  are  informed,  the  popular  mind 
in  Germany  is  industriously  embittered  against  the  Holy  See,  and 
that,  in  order  to  weaken  the  attachment  of  the  faithful  to  this  cen- 
ter of  unity.  . . . 

Inasmuch  as  these  slanderers  are  unable  to  allege  any  substan- 
tial proof  of  their  assertions,  they  asperse  and  pervert  the  acts  of  our 
early  administration  of  this  government ; and  these  acts  it  is  that  we 
wish  to  explain  at  present,  hoping  thereby  to  take  away  all  pretext 
for  such  accusations. 

^^It  is  to  your  knowledge.  Venerable  Brothers,  that  toward  the 
end  of  the  pontificate  of  Pius  VII.  several  of  the  European  sovereigns 
advised  him  to  introduce  into  his  civil  administration  changes  cal- 
culated to  make  it  more  efficient  and  more  pleasing  to  the  laity. 
Later  in  1831  this  advice  and  the  desires  of  the  sovereigns  were  more 
solemnly  uttered  in  the  memorandum  ” jointly  presented  by  the 
ambassadors  of  the  powers.  In  this  document,  among  other  recom- 
mendations, was  one  to  the  effect,  that  there  should  be  created 
a Council  of  State,  representing  the  whole  pontifical  territory,  as 
well  as  provincial  councils,  broader  municipal  organizations,  and 
other  improvements  of  a progressive  nature.  It  was  also  recom- 


194 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


mended  that  laymen  should  be  employed  in  all  the  functions  of 
the  civil  administration  and  in  the  judiciary.  These  two  last 
changes  were  insisted  on  as  vitally  important.  Other  papers  pre- 
sented at  the  same  same  time  by  the  ambassadors  urged  a wider  am- 
nesty in  favor  of  persons  who  had  violated  their  fealty  toward  the 
sovereign.’’ 

The  reforms  accomplished  by  Gregory  XVI.  in  furtherance  of 
these  wishes,  and  the  improvements  by  him  promised,  did  not  satisfy 
the  great  powers,  nor  produce  satisfaction  and  tranquillity  in  the 
Papal  States. 

‘^lienee,”  the  allocution  continues,  ^'from  the  first  day  of  our 
elevation  to  this  place,  unimpelled  by  any  other  cause  than  our  own 
deep  love  for  our  subjects,  w6  granted  a large  measure  of  amnesty  to 
those  who  had  rebelled  against  the  pontifical  authority,  and  has- 
tened to  bestow  on  our  people  institutions  deemed  most  favorable  to 
their  welfare.  These  acts  were  in  perfect  conformity  with  the 
reforms  counseled  by  the  great  powers. 

^^The  execution  of  our  designs  excited  so  much  rejoicing  and 
brought  us  from  our  subjects  and  the  neighboring  peoples  so  many 
testimonies  of  gratitude  and  respect,  that  we  were  fain  to  repress 
their  manifestations.  We  have  done  all  we  could  by  our  admoni- 
tions and  exhortations  to  induce  all  to  become  more  firmly  attached 
to  Catholic  truth,  more  faithful -observers  of  the  laws  of  God  and  of 
his  Church,  and  more  zealous  to  promote  mutual  concord,  peace, 
and  charity. 

Would  to  God  that  our  fatherly  words  had  produced  the  desired 
effect ! But  all  are  now  familiar  with  the  commotions  that  have 
disturbed  the  peoples  of  Italy,  as  well  as  with  the  troubles  that  have 
occurred  elsewhere.  . . . Assuredly  he  who  would  throw  on  us 

the  blame  of  these  events,  as  if  they  were  the  legitimate  consequences 
of  our  early  reforms,  ought  to  remember  that  in  these  we  did  but 
carry  out  the  measures  repeatedly  pressed  on  the  attention  of  the 
Holy  See  by  the  European  courts.  . . . 

The  German  population  should  not  impute  it  to  us  as  a crime,  if 
we  have  not  been  always  able  to  restrain  the  joy  of  our  subjects  over 
the  successes  obtained  in  Northern  Italy  by  men  of  Italian  blood,  or 
if  some  of  these  have  gone  to  help  their  brethren  in  defending 
a cause  dear  to  all.  There  is  more  than  one  European  sovereign 
who,  with  military  forces  incomparably  superior  to  ours,  has  not 
been  able  to  repress  revolution.  . . . And  yet,  amid  all  the 


He  cannot  Declare  War  against  Austria,  195 

passionate  excitement  of  tlie  time,  onr  only  orders  to  tlie  troops  sent 
by  us  to  the  frontier  were  to  limit  themselves  to  defend  the  integrity 
and  inviolability  of  the  pontifical  territory. 

^^Nevertheless,  inasmuch  as  many  urge  us  to  declare  war  against 
Austria  in  union  with  the  other  Italian  sovereigns,  we  have  deemed  it 
imperative  on  us  to  protest  solemnly  in  your  presence  against  a 
course  of  action  so  far  from  our  purpose,  since,  all  unworthy  though 
we  be,  we  hold  on  earth  the  place  of  him  who  is  the  author  of  peace 
and  the  lover  of  charity,  embracing  as  we  do,  in  folfillment  of  our 
apostolic  charge,  all  countries  and  peoples  and  nationalities  in  one 
undivided  sentiment  of  fatherly  love. 

‘‘If  there  be  those  among  our  subjects  who  are  carried  away  by 
their  sympathy  for  the  cause  of  their  common  country,  how  are  we 
to  chain  down  their  patriotism  ? ” 

After  protesting  energetically  against  the  notion,  now  spread 
abroad  by  some  Mazzinian  leaders,  of  one  Italian  republic,  absorb- 
ing all  existing  nationalities  and  presided  over  by  the  Pope,  the 
Holy  Father  warns  all  Italians  against  the  perfidious  designs  and 
counsels  of  men  who  would  detach  them  from  the  obedience  due  to 
their  respective  sovereigns,  and  thereby  divide  and  weaken  Italy  in 
presence  of  the  common  foe. 

“As  to  ourselves,”  the  Pope  continues,  “we  declare  in  the  most 
solemn  manner  that  all  our  thoughts,  our  cares,  our  endeavors,  as 
Eoman  pontiff,  aim  at  enlarging  continually  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
and  not  at  extending  the  boundaries  of  the  temporal  principality 
which  Providence  has  bestowed  on  the  Holy  See  for  the  sole  dig- 
nity and  free  exercise  of  its  supreme  apostleship. 

“They  are  sadly  mistaken  who  imagine  that  any  prospect  of  a 
wider  power  can  carry  our  soul  away  and  hurry  us  into  the  tumult 
of  arms.  Assuredly  it  would  be  a supreme  joy  for  our  fatherly 
heart  to  be  able  by  our  intervention  and  our  good  offices  to  quench 
the  fire  of  discord,  to  bring  nearer  to  each  other  those  whom  war 
divides,  and  to  restore  peace  between  the  belligerents.” 

Such  are  the  acts  and  utterances  by  which  alone  Pius  IX.  has  to 
be  judged  by  posterity.  One  can  discover  in  this  allocution  the 
hand  of  Cardinal  Antonelli,  who,  during  the  following  twenty-nine 
years,  maintained  amid  usurpations,  treachery,  desertions,  and  the 
calumnies  of  the  European  and  American  press,  this  same  one 
simple  thesis,  that  the  Holy  See  is  the  center  of  Catholic  unity,  that 
its  temporalities  were  the  patrimony  secured  by  Christendom  to  the 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


196 

common  parent  of  all  Christians,  and  that  all  Christian  powers  and 
peoples  had  a joint  interest  in  preserving  the  integrity  and  inviola- 
bility of  that  patrimony. 

Of  course  this  act  of  courage,  due  by  the  Pope  to  his  office  and 
to  Christendom,  did  not  satisfy  the  clubs.  In  every  event,  they 
wanted  to  use  him  as  a weapon  to  beat  the  Austrians  with,  and  to 
bo  cast  aside  or  broken,  the  moment  the  victory  was  achieved.  No 
man  in  his  senses  but  knows  this  at  the  present  day.  How  much 
more  glorious,  then,  is  the  conduct  of  Pius  IX.,  under  the  pressure 
of  the  terrible  circumstances  around  him,  and  with  the  clear  pre- 
vision of  the  dangers  to  which  the  allocution  must  expose  both 
himself  and  the  Sacred  College  ? 

Every  face  in  Kome  wore  a scowl  that  night  (29th  of  April),” 
says  Legge.  The  city  presented  everywhere  indications  of  a lurid 
sulphury  feeling — that  indefinable  sort  of  agitation  that  seems 
always  to  herald  an  outbreak  of  popular  violence.  It  was  a terrible 
night,  universally  recognized  as  the  eve  of  a more  terrible  popular 
crisis.  Few  had  read,  and  fewer  still  had  a correct  knowledge  of 
the  contents  of  that  fatal  allocution.  Yet  it  would  be  incorrect  to 
say  there  was  suspense ; rather  ten  thousand  citizens  retired  to  their 
homes  to  take  what  rest  they  might,  with  the  dull  certainty  upon 
each  heart  that,  whatever  the  phrases  used,  that  document — which 
when  they  awoke  each  man  might  read  in  his  own  tongue — severed 
for  ever  their  faith  in  the  ruler,  whom,  for  two  years  of  jubilee,  they 
had  regarded  as  a heaven-sent  pontiff ” 

Even  the  passion-colored  narrative  of  this  author  all  through  his 
first  volume  cannot  so  disguise  the  facts  of  history  as  to  conceal  the 
dark  and  desperate  conspiracy  which  filled  these  ‘^two  years  of 
jubilee.”  No  reader  who  has  followed  us  patiently  so  far  but  is  pre- 
pared for  the  explosion  of  impious  rage  and  cowardly  violence  that 
followed  on  the  morrow,  and  continued  to  grow  in  loudness  and 
undisguised  ruffianism,  like  a chorus  of  famished  wolves  on  a prairie 
around  a fallen  buffalo,  fresh  accessions  of  ravenous  beasts  from  every 
wind  in  the  heavens  adding  to  the  hideousness  and  ferocity  of  the 
scene. 


CHAPTER  XVn. 


The  Pope  as  a Mediator — Iitsurrection’ m Naples — Neapoli- 
tan's WITHDRAW  FROM  LOMBARDY — REPUBLICAN  AGITATION 
IN  Rome — The  Pope’s  Mediation  defeated  by  Palmerston 
— Mazzini  conspiring  against  Charles  Albert — Gayazzi 
PREACHING  Sedition  to  the  Troops — War  of  the  King  ” 
AND  War  of  the  People  ” — Pressure  on  the  Pope — The 
Austrians  at  Ferrara — His  Reform  of  Penitentiaries 
— His  Plan  of  a Federated  Italy — Defended  by  Rossi. 


May-September,  1848. 


NE  otlier  document  from  the  pen  of  the  Holy  Father  must  find 


place  here  before  we  follow  the  rapid  course  of  events.  The 
efforts  made  by  him  to  obtain  the  assent  of  Charles  Albert  to  the 
assembling  of  an  Italian  Diet  in  Rome,  though  successful  with  the 
other  sovereigns  of  Italy,  met  only  with  calculated  delays  and  a final 
refusal  from  the  Piedmontese  king.  He  wished  to  force  the  Pope, 
whose  troops  were  now  under  his  command,  into  the  alternative  of 
declaring  war  against  Austria,  or  of  losing  his  influence  in  Italy,  and 
thus  pave  the  way  to  the  ascendency  of  Piedmont. 

But  Pius  IX.  was  not  to  be  balked  in  the  path  of  duty  either  by 
the  Machiavellian  policy  of  Piedmont  or  the  outrages  and  menaces 
of  a Roman  rabble,  or  by  the  outcries  and  calumnies  of  the  European 
press.  He  was  the  common  father ; and  as  such  no  interest  or  fear 
could  induce  him  to  declare  war.  But  as  such  his  ofiBce  was  also 
one  of  mediation,  and  nothing  that  was  told  him  of  the  disfavor  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  Austrian  court  could  make  him  hesitate  to 
discharge  his  fatherly  duty  as  mediator. 

On  the  3d  of  May  the  following  letter,  mentioned  in  the  last 
chapter,  was  written  to  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  : 

‘‘Your  Majesty  : — Whenever  war  stained  with  blood  the  soil  of 
Christendom,  it  has  been  the  wont  of  this  Holy  See  to  utter  words  of 
peace.  Hence  in  the  allocution  of  the  29th  of  April,  while  we  said 


197 


198 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


that  our  fatherly  heart  shrinks  from  declaring  war,  we  also  mani- 
fested in  a special  manner  our  desire  to  contribute  toward  a peace. 

Let  your  Majesty,  then,  be  not  offended  if  we  now  appeal  to 
your  filial  affection  and  your  religious  sentiments,  and  beseech  you 
with  paternal  earnestness  to  withdraw  your  arms  from  a struggle, 
which  cannot  subdue  to  your  empire  the  hearts  of  the  Lombards  and 
Venetians,  and  must  bring  on,  as  its  consequence,  the  fatal  train  of 
calamities  which  attend  on  war,  and  which  must  be  abhorrent  to  the 
soul  of  your  Majesty. 

Nor  must  the  generous  German  nation  take  it  in  ill  part,  if  we 
exhort  them  to  lay  resentment  aside,  and  to  change  into  useful  rela- 
tions of  neighborly  intercourse  a domination  without  glory  or  benefit, 
because  it  must  be  maintained  exclusively  by  the  sword. 

^^We  trust,  therefore,  that  your  people,  who  take  an  honorable 
pride  in  their  own  nationality,  will  not  deem  it  a part  of  their  honor 
to  keep  up  a bloody  contest  with  the  Italian  nation,  but  will  honor 
themselves  by  acknowledging  Italy  as  a sister  nation.  Both  are 
daughters  to  us,  and  most  dear  to  our  heart,  and  each  should  con- 
fine herself  to  reside  within  her  own  natural  boundaries,  upon 
honorable  terms,  and  under  the  divine  blessing. 

In  the  meantime  we  entreat  the  Giver  of  all  light  and  the  Author 
of  every  good  gift  to  inspire  your  Majesty  with  holy  counsels  ; while 
from  the  inmost  of  our  hearts  we  impart  to  you,  to  her  Majesty  the 
Empress,  and  to  the  whole  imperial  family  apostolic  benediction.’’ 
■ What  though  the  court  of  Vienna,  blind  not  only  to  its  own 
sacred  duty  as  a Christian  power,  but  to  the  revolution  which  threat- 
ened its  existence  as  an  empire,  should  treat  the  prayer  of  the 
vicar  of  Christ  with  contempt  and  derision  ? We,  at  this  distance 
from  the  events  of  1848,  must  see  in  the  noble  attitude  of  Pius  IX. 
that  which  alone  became  his  office  and  position.  Had  he  departed 
from  the  only  policy  befitting  the  vicegerent  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
we  should  have  condemned  him  as  time-serving  and  worldly.  But 
he  sought  the  unity,  the  liberation,  the  peace  of  Italy,  as  became 
one  who  was  both  an  ardent  Italian  patriot  and  the  representative 
on  earth  of  the  Mediator. 

We  noAV  return  to  Rome.  ^‘The  allocution  of  April  29  had  a pow- 
erful elicct  both  in  demoralizing  the  Pope’s  troops  and  in  stimng  up 
against  him  the  worst  passions.  ...  In  Austria  the  allocution 
was  derided  as  a new  act  of  weakness,  and  the  (above)  letter  was  left 
unheeded.  . . . The  Pope  was  forced  to  accept  a ministry  in 


Insurrections  in  Naples, 


199 


which  Mamiani  was  premier  and  secretary  of  state  for  secular 
foreign  affairs,  Galletti  being  minister  of  police.  Farini,  who  re- 
placed Corboli-Bussi  at  the  Piedmontese  head-quarters,  completed  the 
treaty  conferring  on  the  king  the  command  of  the  papal  troops  be- 
yond the  Po.  The  dissension  which  existed  between  the  Pope  and 
the  Mamiani  ministry  broke  out  on  June  4,  on  the  opening  of  the 
new  parliament.”  * 

An  event,  attributed  by  some  writers  to  the  influence  of  the  allo- 
cution of  April  the  29th — the  withdrawal  of  the  Neapolitan  navy  from 
the  Adriatic,  and  of  the  Neapolitan  army  from  the  support  of  Charles 
Albert  and  Durando — rendered  the  struggle  for  independence  hope- 
less, and  the  position  of  the  papal  troops  extremely  critical.  It 
tended  to  increase,  as  well,  and  beyond  all  conception,  the  difficulties 
inherent  to  the  Pope’s  position  in  Kome.  But  who  was  to  blame  for 
this  withdrawal  ? 

Here,  again,  we  discover  the  incomprehensible  wickedness  and 
folly  of  the  Mazzinian  conspirators.  On  May  the  14th,  the  day  be- 
fore the  opening  of  the  Neapolitan  parliament,  an  insurrection  broke 
out  in  Naples,  and  barricades  were  erected  in  the  streets.  Step  by 
step  the  disorder  increased,  till,  on  the  15th,  the  city  became  a scene 
of  slaughter,  bombarded  by  the  forts  and  deluged  by  the  successive 
massacres  committed  by  the  insurgents  (Liberals  and  civic  guard), 
the  soldiers,  and  the  lazzaroni.  The  insurrection,  nevertheless, 
spread  in  Calabria  ; and  Sicily,  which  had  been  in  rebellion  for  some 
time,  sent  an  armed  legion  to  the  assistance  of  the  Calabrians. 

Thereupon  the  king  issued  peremptory  orders  for  the  immediate 
withdrawal  of  his  forces  from  the  north  of  Italy.  There,  too,  in  the 
meantime,  the  Austrians  had  come  into  collision  with  the  Italian 
confederates,  and  worsted  them.  “In  this  state  of  things,”  says 
Legge,  “it  was  inevitable  that  the  sects,  'which  always  prosper  in  the 
same  proportion  as  the  cause  of  Italy  declines,’  should  spring  into 
new  activity.  The  Giovine  Italia  (Young  Italy)  began  to  raise  its 
head  and  to  utter  contemptuous  phrases  about  'the  king’s  war,’ 
with  criminating  reflections  upon  Charles  Albert  and  his  generals, 
as  well  as  the  gallant  leaders  of  the  volunteer  papal  corps,  thus  sow- 
ing, where  it  had  not  already  taken  root,  the  baneful  seed  of  distrust, 
willing  that  the  sentiment  of  nationality  should  languish  rather 
than  flourish  in  association  with  royalty.”  f 


* **  American  Cyclopaedia.” 


1 1.,  p.  319. 


200 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


In  Eome  the  electoral  colleges  were  summoned  for  the  18th  of 
May  for  the  choice  of  deputies.  The  tidings  from  Xaples,  on  the  one 
side,  and  from  Lombardy,  on  the  other,  intensified  the  great  excite- 
ment already  existing.  The  Mazzinians  were  busy  procuring  the 
election  of  citizens  hostile  to  every  form  of  kingly  government.  But, 
fortunately,  the  law  restricted  the  suffrage  to  the  intelligent  and  re- 
sident classes  who  held  property  and  paid  a certain  amount  of  taxes  ; 
and  the  Moderate  Liberals  were  active  in  making  the  best  of  this 
their  last  opportunity  for  returning  order-loving  deputies. 

Parliament  met  on  the  5th  of  June.  The  question  suggests  itself  : 
Will  the  party  of  action  ” allow  the  experiment  to  be  made  in  Eome 
more  peacefully  than  at  Naples  ? Parini  shall  enlighten  us  on  the 
causes  of  the  ill  success  of  this  constitutional  experiment  in  Eome. 

^‘The  word  republic,’’ he  says,  ‘‘which  rouses  the  heart  by  the 
recollections  it  evokes,  was  no  longer  pronounced  in  a whisper,  but 
passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  among  our  practiced  agitators ; and 
this  democratic  method  of  governing,  which  adapts  itself  to  the  na- 
ture of  man,  ever  envious  of  the  good  fortune  of  others — this  word 
republic,  which,  among  our  commonalties,  accustomed  to  live  with- 
out rule,  signifies  the  supremacy  of  disorder — became  the  very  sweet- 
heart not  only  of  high-minded  youth,  but  of  the  greedy,  of  the  vul- 
garly ambitious,  and  of  the  turbulent,  to  whom  convulsion  promises 
occupation,  distinction,  and  reward  ; and  it  came  about  that  already 
much  was  heard  in  common  conversation  of  the  termination  of  mon- 
archy, and  especially  of  the  papal  monarchy,  without  any  regard  to 
plighted  faith  or  to  prudence.  . . . It  is  the  fact  that,  at  the 

end  of  May,  it  was  easily  perceivable  that  the  revolution  was  ad- 
vancing by  stealth,  and  that  the  minds  of  men  were  fashioning  them- 
selves, some  to  accomplish  it,  others  to  let  it  be  accomplished.  . . 

The  sectarians  (secret  society  men)  rose  in  spirits  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  sober-minded  citizens  flagged ; the  orators  of  the  clubs 
continually  inflated  their  lungs  to  abuse  the  sovereigns,  to  abuse  the 
magistrates,  and  to  abuse  moderate  men ; but  the  people,  the  popu- 
lar virtues  and  strength  they  extolled  to  the  skies.* 

In  spite  of  much  dissentiment  between  the  Pope  and  his  ministers, 
Parini,  who  had  the  confidence  of  the  former,  had  the  speech  pre- 
pared by  the  premier,  Mamiani — a large  programme  of  the  pontifical 
policy — adopted ; and  it  was  delivered  to  the  new  parliament  by  Car- 


* Vol.  ii.  182. 


The  Pope  s Mediation  Thwarted, 


201 


dinal  Altieri.  Its  carefully- worded  declarations  allowed  tne  moder- 
ate Italians  to  believe  that  the  Pope  sanctioned  the  war  for  Italian 
independence,  and  produced  abroad  the  impression  that  he  dared  not 
openly  resist  the  will  of  the  majority  and  act  in  conformity  with  the 
allocution  of  April  the  29th.'  An  opportunity  of  dispelling  this 
error  was  afforded  him  by  an  address  of  the  chambers  presented  on 
July  the  10th.  This  address  was  only  an  echo  of  the  Mamiani  pro- 
gramme. The  Pope  in  his  answer  declared  that  he  could  agree  to 
its  utterances  only  in  so  far  as  they  did  not  vary  from  the  funda- 
mental statute  (creating  the  civil  constitution  then  in  force),  and 
added  : 

^^If  strong  desires  be  multiplied  for  the  greatness  of  the  Italian 
nation,  it  is  needful  that  the  whole  world  should  be  apprised  anew 
that  war  cannot  be  on  our  part  the  means  of  achieving  it.  Our  name 
was  blessed  throughout  the  earth  for  the  first  accents  of  peace  that 
fell  from  our  lips  ; it  assuredly  could  not  be  so  were  those  of  war  to 
proceed  from  us.  It  was  to  us  a great  surprise  when  we  learned  that 
the  council  had  been  invited  to  discuss  the  subject,  in  opposition  to 
our  public  declarations,  and  at  the  moment  when  we  had  taken  in 
hand  negotiations  for  peace.” 

Pius  IX.  had  not  been  satisfied  with  the  statements  made  in  the 
allocution,  or  with  the  letter  of  mediation  to  the  Emperor  of  Austria, 
he  had  also  sent  a special  delegate.  Monsignor  Morichini,  to  Vienna, 
for  the  purpose  of  convincing  the  imperial  mind  of  the  necessity  of 
coming  to  terms  with  the  Italians.  And  ‘Hhe  mission  of  Monsignor 
Morichini  . . . had  been  so  far  successful,  that  the  British  gov- 

ernment had  been  requested  by  Austria  to  mediate  between  her- 
self and  Italy  on  the  basis  of  the  independence  of  Lombardy  and  the 
Duchies,  . . . and  the  concession  to  Venetia  of  a separate  ad- 

ministration, with  an  army  of  her  own,  under  the  sway  of  an  Austrian 
archduke.  Lord  Palmerston  declined  to  accept  the  commission  on 
any  other  condition  than  the  absolute  independence  of  certain  Vene- 
tian provinces.”  * 

This  was  early  in  June.  How  came  it  to  pass  that  the  successful 
mediation  of  the  Holy  Father  was  not  sufficient  to  arrest  the  pro- 
gress of  the  war,  and  to  secure  for  Northern  Italy  so  precious  an 
installment  of  the  long-coveted  independence  ? Lord  Palmerston 
would  have  ^^the  absolute  independence  of  certain  Venetian  prov- 


^ Legge,  i.  350. 


202 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


inces.”  As  to  Charles  Albert,  ^Hhe  proposals  of  Austria  were  con- 
cealed from  him  until  they  had  been  rej'ected  (by  Palmerston), 
whilst  the  ferment  of  anger,  and  the  unreasoning  thirst  for  ven- 
geanee  which  agitated  the  w’hole  Peninsula,  would  haye  rendered 
it  impossible  for  him  to  consider  any  terms  short  of  the  complete 
evacuation  of  Italy.”  Thus  speaks  Legge. 

But  on  the  very  same  page  we  are  told  in  a note  that  '^as  late  as 
May,  Lombardy  would  have  been  willing  to  purchase  her  independ- 
ence by  taking  twenty  millions  sterling  of  the  national  debt  of 
Austria,  a sum  smaller  than  she  must  spend  in  vain  attempts  at  re- 
conquest.” 

It  is  an  unworthy  artifice  to  palliate  the  dark  and  tortuous  policy 
of  Palmerston,  in  his  concealing  from  one  of  the  principals  in  the 
deadly  feud  the  fair  terms  of  compromise,  by  saying  that  he  declined 
to  accept,”  and  that  Charles  Albert  could  not  have  considered  ^‘any 
terms  short  of  the  complete  evacuation  of  Italy.”  It  is  evident  that 
the  Lombards,  whose  independence  was  at  stake,  would  have  been 
but  too  glad  to  consider  and  to  accept  the  terms  of  Austria.  By 
what  right  did  Lord  Palmerston  conceal  the  Austrian  offer,  or  reject 
it,  without  so  much  as  consulting  the  Italian  belligerents  ? 

Thus,  on  the  very  day  when  the  papal  troops  under  Durando  had 
been  compelled  to  surrender  at  Vicenza,  the  court  of  Vienna  had 
sent  full  powers  to  Marshal  Eadetzky  to  conclude  an  armistic  with 
the  Lombards  till  the  English  government  had  fulfilled  its  mission 
of  peace-making. 

Why  was  the  good  work  so  nobly  undertaken  by  the  pontiff,  and  so 
happily  brought  to  an  issue,  defeated  by  the  British  statesman's  arbi- 
trary conduct  ? Had  the  independence  of  Lombardy,  at  least,  been 
announced  in  Eome  as  the  price  of  the  Eoman  blood  shed  and  the 
heroic  valor  displayed  at  Vicenza,  and  had  Venetia  been  given  the 
proffered  autonomy  as  a pledge  of  future  freedom,  how  different 
might  it  have  been  for  the  Pope  ! 

We  have  seen  how  Palmerston  outgeneraled  France,  Austria,  and 
Prussia  in  Switzerland,  and,  directing  by  his  agent.  Sir  Eobert  Peel, 
and  the  very  chaplain  of  the  English  embassy,  the  movements  of  the 
Eadical  forces  under  Dufour,  had  ended  the  war  and  rendered  the 
proposed  mediation  impossible.  There  Palmerston  was  only  the  ex- 
ecutive of  the  Mazzinian  power. 

In  Lombardy  we  find  both  Palmerston  and  Mazzini  behind  the 
scenes — the  hidden  power  which  paralyzes  the  soldier  before  battle. 


Mazzhii  Co7ispiring  against  Charles  Albert,  203 

and  after  battle  tears  from  the  bravest  men  tlie  fruits  both  of  victory 
and  defeat. 

“ The  Mazzinians  regarded  the  federal  conception  of  an  ^ Italy  of 
the  North’  as  fatal  to  the  war,  because  too  ambitious  to  be  accepted 
by  the  majority  of  Italian  princes  and  by  European  diplomacy,  and  at 
the  same  time  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  populations 
of  Italy.  Moreover,  the  Giovine  Italia  was  opposed  to  the  monar- 
chical form  of  government.  . . . The  incorporation  of  Lombardy 
into  the  monarchy  of  Piedmont  afforded  a pretext  for  hurling  anathe- 
mas at  the  head  of  the  sub-Alpine  king,  and  fanning  the  flame  of 
discontent.  ' . . . The  true  reason  of  so  much  scandal,  Farini 

observes,  then  as  now,  was  this : ‘ That  Giuseppe  Mazzini  held  his 
own  self  to  be  the  man  predestined  to  deliver  Italy,  and  could  not 
endure  that  any  Italian  compact  should  be  concluded  if  he  did  not 
put  to  it  his  seal,  and  if  the  countries,  armies,  sovereigns,  pontiffs 
did  not  bow  down  before  the  new  Ms  Majesty  and  Ms  Holiness. 
...  He  had  no  funds,  and,  except  a few  companies  of  adventurers, 
he  had  no  force  in  the  field ; but  he  managed  his  own  people  in 
arms  by  the  tricks  of  a sect  and  by  his  mystical  idea  ; no  slight  force 
this  amidst  the  indolence  of  a city,  as  being  one  that  dissociates  the 
minds  which  ought  to  be  striving  in  common  toward  the  same  point. 
To  be  powerful  in  obstiaicting  the  good  that  flows  from  the  union 
of  spirits  means  to  be  powerful  for  effecting  evil ; this  power  Maz- 
zini possessed,  and  this  abuse  he  made  of  it.”  * 

The  arch-conspirator  had  established  his  head-quarters  in  Milan 
during  the  war,  and  thence  governed  by  his  agents  public  opinion  in 
the  Piedmontese  army  as  well  as  among  the  papal  troops.  It  was 
these  agents  of  disorder  and  defeat  who  had  accused  the  papal  gen- 
eral, Ferrari,  of  treachery  in  the  battle  of  Cornuda,  on  May  the  8th, 
and  who  during  the  retreat  seized  three  obnoxious  individuals,  car- 
ried them  to  Treviso,  and  there  ^^tore  them  to  pieces,  giving,”  says 
Legge,  ^^such  license  to  their  passions  as  the  heart  sickens  to  narrate  ; 
some  of  these  demons  being  insatiable  until  they  had  tasted  their 
victims’  blood.”  It  was  these  men — the  shame  of  their  name  and 
country — who,  on  May  the  12th,  instead  of  following  their  general 
to  the  attack,  shouted  the  word  traitor,”  cast  away  their  arms,  and 
fled  ! We  shall  find  some  of  them  in  Rome  on  November  the  15th. 

It  was  the  blind  fanaticism  of  these  same  men  which  accused  the 


* Farini,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  201,  205,  as  quoted  by  Legge. 


204 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


brave  Durando  and  his  heroic  troops  of  treachery,  after  the  capitu- 
lation of  Vicenza,  and  bestowed  the  epithet  of  traitor  not  only  on 
Charles  Albert  but  on  Pius  IX.  The  former  was  forced  by  the  fren- 
zied public  opinion  thus  created  to  engage  the  victorious  Austrians 
at  Custozza,  and  to  endure  (July  14)  the  defeat  he  had  clearly  fore- 
seen. 

Europe  has  not  forgotten  how  that  brave  king  with  his  army  of 
raw  recruits  was  received,  after  Xovara,  as  after  Custozza,  by  the 
Mazzinians  in  Milan;  how  the  word  ‘^traitor”  was  shouted  all  day 
and  night  by  the  mob  around  the  palace  in  which  the  weary 
king  could  find  no  rest,  and  how  his  magnanimity  withheld  his 
soldiers  from  slaughtering  that  rabble.  No  rest  would  he  take  till 
he  had  gone  far  away  from  Italy,  to  the  extremity  of  Europe,  to  die 
broken-hearted.  We  are  anticipating,  however.  He  had  loved  Italy 
‘Miot  wisely,  but  too  well.”  There  was  another  sovereign  who  had 
risked  even  more  than  Charles  Albert  in  the  cause  of  Italy,  and  who 
was  destined  to  a longer  and  far  more  cruel  agony,  to  be  endured  at 
the  hands  of  the  same  impious  and  unreasoning  wickedness. 

The  termination  of  this  calamitous  war  brought  to  the  sects” 
who  controlled  Eome  and  the  pontifical  government  a new  element 
of  licentiousness  and  ferocity  in  the  persons  of  the  disbanded  volun- 
teers. 

One  cannot  be  surprised  at  the  evil  eminence  to  which  the  Maz- 
zinian  principles  and  training  had  raised  all  such  adepts,  when  it  is 
recollected  who  were  the  men  who  consented  to  be  the  educators  of 
these  soldiers  of  Italian  liberty.  One  reminiscence  or  two  from  non- 
Catholic  authors  will  enable  the  reader  to  go  back  from  effects  to 
causes,  and  thus  to  see  who  are  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  shock- 
ing events  that  remain  to  be  mentioned. 

The  English-speaking  world  has  seen  and  heard  the  ex-monk 
Gavazzi,  who  has  left  a track  of  blood  even  on  the  tolerant  soil  of 
our  own  free  America.  New  Yorkers,  moreover,  will  recall  to  mind 
how  Archbishop  Bedini  was  hunted  from  cover  to  cover  by  the  con- 
federates of  Ugo  Bassi,  another  ex-monk,  associated  with  Gavazzi  in 
his  missionary  (!)  labors  in  the  papal  army  and  among  the  citizens  of 
Bologna  and  Rome.  Of  poor  Bassi,  who  died  most  repentant,  we  do 
not  wish  to  utter  one  word  of  censure ; we  merely  chronicle  here 
what  is  attested  by  unimpeachable  witnesses. 

While  the  troops  under  Ferrari  and  Durando  were  occupying  im- 
portant positions  in  front  of  the  Austrian  lines,  Farini  was  sent,  as 


“ War  of  the  King''  and  “ War  of  the  People'^  20S 


related  above,  to  negotiate  with  the  king  of  Piedmont.  The  papal 
troops  were  in  daily  conflict  with  the  outposts,  and  Farini  visited  the 
camp,  as  well  to  see  how  discipline  was  maintained  as  to  express  his 
sympathy  with  the  wounded.  On  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  May, 
when  he  and  other  civilians  visited  the  camp,  . . . the  emissa- 

ries of  the  Milanese  circoli  circles’’  of  Mazzinians)  were  there  for 
a different  purpose,  and  were  busily  exerting  themselves  to  under- 
mine the  confidence  of  the  soldiers  in  their  commanders,  and  shake 
their  loyalty  to  their  sovereign.  . . . Two  days  later  we  find 

that  the  very  existence  of  Durando’s  army  was  endangered  by  agents 
of  a similar  description,  amongst  whom  were  Fathers  Gavazzi  and 
Bassi,  zealous  preachers  of  sedition  and  active  subverters  of  disci- 
pline and  subordination.* 

^^That  talk  about  ‘the  king’s  war,’  which  we  have  seen  marring 
the  harmony,  and  eventually  demoralizing  and  working  disruption 
•in  the  ranks  of  the  Eoman  volunteers,  was  not  confined  to  the  camp. 
In  Eome,  already,  the  man  whose  honor  and  military  reputation 
were  unimpeachable,  who  had  received  the  command  of  a disorgan- 
ized body  of  volunteers,  had  been  outraged  and  calumniated  because, 
forsooth,  he  had  failed  with  such  material  to  accomplish  prodigies 
impossible  to  an  army  of  veterans  ! This  man  was  dragged  to  judg- 
ment before  the  clubs,  which  raised  their  voices,  but  never  a finger, 
in  that  sacred  cause  of  liberty  for  which  he  had  shed  his  blood. 
The  intelligence,  therefore,  of  the  surrender  of  Vicenza,  whilst  it 
plunged  the  city  into  the  profoundest  grief,  furnished  also  an  occa- 
sion for  the  exhibition  of  the  rage  and  malevolence  of  these  prating 
idiots,  those  real  traitors  to  the  cause  of  Italy,  who  confounded 
patriotism  with  self-love,  and  their  own  miserable  Utopias  with  the 
freedom  and  greatness  of  their  country.  No  stigma  was  too  odious 
with  these  visionaries  wherewith  to  brand  the  man  who  presumed  to 
think  of  constituting  Italy  upon  any  other  principle  than  that  which 
they  approved,  and  in  which  they  or  their  leaders,  whom,  in  spite 
of  their  vaunted  independence,  they  followed  with  abject  servility, 
should  play  a conspicuous  part.  The  cry  of  ‘ traitor  ’ was  perpetual- 
ly upon  their  lips.  . . . ‘The  war  of  kings  has  terminated,’  cried 
these  visionaries,  ‘that  of  the  people  is  about  to  commence  !’  They 
talked  loudly  of  repudiating  the  terms  of  the  capitulation,  and  their 
representatives  in  parliament,  of  whom  Sterbini  and  Canino  were 


* Wriglitson,  “ History  of  Modern  Italy.” 


206 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX. 


chief,  abused  the  freedom  of  debate  in  coarse  innuendoes  against 
the  Pope,  who  had  styled  their  enterprise  ^an  unjust  and  hurtful 
war,’  in  violent  complaints  of  Durando,  and  in  stimulating  the 
deputies  to  vote  larger  supplies  for  the  continuance  of  the  war  which 
the  Poi^e  had  censured.”  * 

Mamiani’s  sole  purpose  during  his  tenure  of  office  was  to  deprive 
churchmen  of  every  external  function  which  did  not  strictly  belong 
to  their  spiritual  ministry ; even  the  Pope,  according  to  him,  should 
give  up  to  his  lay  ministers  and  to  the  constituted  bodies  every  part 
of  his  sovereign  power  not  essentially  connected  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church.  It  was  difficult  to  see  how  he  could  be  really  a 
sovereign  and  be  thus  stripped  of  all  the  prerogatives  and  functions  of 
sovereignty.  But  Pius  IX.,  how  much  soever  he  could  conceive  that  in 
a lay  government  a king  might  so  administer  through  others,  deemed 
such  a state  of  things  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  essentially 
dual  nature  of  his  sovereignty  as  ruler  of  the  Eoman  States. 

Mamiani  in  his  famous  ‘^programme”  had  said  of  the  Pope,  ‘Hie 
dispenses  to  the  world  the  word  of  God,  prays,  blesses,  and  pardons.” 
While  discussing  this  proposition  with  a minister  forced  upon  him  by 
mob  violence,  he  reminded  Mamiani  that  the  new  constitution  Avas 
the  spontaneous  creation  of  his  own  sovereign  will.  *‘lt  is  likewise 
the  duty  of  the  Pope,”  he  declared,  to  bind  and  to  loose.  If,  so 
far  as  he  is  a soA^ereign,  he  calls  into  existence  the  two  councils  to 
co-operate  wdth  him  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  and  promoting  the 
public  welfare  or  his  States,  yet,  inasmuch  as  he  is  priest  as  well  as 
prince,  he  needs  that  fullness  of  liberty,  which  may  permit  his  priestly 
action  to  be  effectiA'e.  This  fullness  of  liberty  shall  be  his  while  the 
constitution  and  the  laAV  on  the  council  of  ministers,  granted  freely 
by  me,  remain  inAuolate.” 

This  fundamental  statute  reserved  exclusively  to  the  Pope  the 
pOAver  of  making  war  and  peace  ; and  if  to  the  functions  enumerated 
by  Mamiani  the  Pope  had  consented  to  add,  ‘‘and  he  cannot  make 
war  or  peace,”  he  would  have  been  satisfied.  But  the  clubs  would  not. 

On  July  the  17th  a messenger  arrived  from  the  Legations  an- 
nouncing tliat  General  Prince  Lichtenstein  had  entered  Ferrara  on 
the  14th.  The  Austrians,  assuredly,  were  not  to  be  too  severely  cen- 
sured for  this  invasion  of  the  Eoman  territory,  seeing  that  in  spite 
of  the  sovereign  pontiff’s  protestations,  his  generals  and  army  had 


* Legge,  ii.  3,  4 


Pius  IX.  wishes  to  Reform  Pe7iitentiaries,  207 

been  real  belligerents,  and  could  be  so  considered  still,  as  peace  bad 
not  been  concluded.  The  Pope  remonstrated,  but  in  vain  ; and  tbe 
note  sent  to  tbe  European  courts  by  bis  Secretary  of  State,  Cardinal 
Soglia,  produced  no  effect. 

On  July  tbe  19tb  a petition  was  presented  to  both  chambers  de- 
manding tbe  instant  arming  of  tbe  people  ; and,  without  waiting  for 
an  answer,  tbe  multitude,  joined  by  tbe  civic  guard,  rushed  for  arms 
to  tbe  Castle  of  SanP  Angelo.  Tbe  chamber  of  deputies  waited  upon 
the  Pope  on  August  tbe  1st,  with  an  address  containing  all  tbe  de- 
mands of  tbe  mob.  On  the  3d,  tbe  Austrians  after  having  van- 
quished Charles  Albert  at  Custozza,  re-entered  tbe  Legations,  but 
were  driven  out  of  Bologna  by  tbe  armed  citizens.  Tbe  Pope  sent 
tbe  authorities  tbe  order  to  ‘^do  all  that  is  requisite  to  save  tbe 
country  and  keep  inviolate  its  sacred  borders.”  Every  effort  of  tbe 
pontiff  to  form  a regular  government  failed  till  September  tbe  16tb, 
when  a new  ministry  was  announced  under  tbe  leadership  of  Eossi. 
At  Bologna  and  in  tbe  provinces  tbe  name  of  tbe  new  premier  was 
bailed  with  favor ; but  in  Eome  nothing  could  reconcile  tbe  clubs  to 
a representative  of  constitutional  monarchy  and  tbe  advocate  of  a 
confederated  Italy. 

It  was  about  this  time,  that  tbe  fatherly  heart  of  the  pontiff,  un- 
chilled by  the  ingratitude  of  bis  own  subjects,  unwearied  by  tbe  many 
labors  of  love  undertaken  all  in  vain  for  bis  people  and  their  common 
country,  unfaltering  in  its  purpose  in  spite  of  tbe  isolation  in  which 
he  was  left  by  European  governments,  and  undismayed  by  tbe  men- 
acing attitude  of  Young  Italy,  conceived  some  of  bis  most  magnifi- 
cent schemes  of  benevolence  and  patriotism. 

Among  these  was  the  reform  of  tbe  penitentiaries.  Tbe  troubles 
of  tbe  last  two  years  bad  increased  enormously  tbe  proportion 
of  crime  and  the  number  of  criminals  condemned  to  forced  labor 
and  imprisonment.  He  wished  to  lighten  their  penalty  and  bene- 
fit them  morally  by  introducing  tbe  most  perfect  reforms  adopted 
elsewhere.  A special  commission  was  sent  for  that  purpose  into 
foreign  countries.  And  though  frustrated  in  bis  design  by  tbe 
catastrophe  that  was  so  near  at  band,  be  resumed  bis  merciful  task 
after  his  return  from  exile. 

Tbe  words  ^^confederated  Italy”  have  just  been  mentioned,  and 
(liese  should  ever  bring  back  to  tbe  student  of  history  tbe  name  of 
Ibus  IX.  in  connection  with  one  of  tbe  noblest  undertakings  ever 
conceived  by  patriot  or  statesman. 


208 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Gioberti  had  now  a seat  in  the  Piedmontese  cabinet,  and  Eossi 
deemed,  as  well  as  his  sovereign,  that  the  time  was  favorable  for 
pressing  on  the  Italian  courts  the  necessity  of  a federal  national 
league.  Antonio  Rosmini  was  sent  to  Rome  from  Turin ; but  sud- 
denly, there  was  a change  of  ministry  in  the  latter  city,  and  Rosmini 
was  instructed  to  submit  a project  of  a simple  league  for  offensive  and 
defensive  purposes,  without  any  organic  federal  bond.  This  Rosmini 
would  not  advocate,  nor  would  the  Pope  entertain  the  proposition. 
He  desired  that  Italy  should  form  a nation  bound  together  by  or- 
ganic ties.  It  was  the  second  time  that  the  king  of  Piedmont  had 
sacrificed  this  admirable  project  to  the  selfish  policy  of  his  own  family. 

The  report  was  industriously  circulated,  nevertheless,  that  Pius 
IX.  had  caused  the  scheme  to  fall  through ; it  was  equally  the  in- 
terest of  the  Piedmontese  to  shift  the  responsibility  from  themselves, 
and  that  of  the  Roman  agitators  to  fix  it  on  the  Pope. 

Rossi  manfully  defended  the  latter  in  the  Roman  Gazette  of  the 
4th  November.  ^‘In  our  number  of  September  18,  we  stated  to  our 
readers  that  the  formation  of  the  political  league  among  the  consti- 
tutional monarchies  of  Italy  was  ever  the  anxious  desire  of  the  papal 
government,  and  that  we  had  a lively  hope  of  seeing  this  great  idea, 
of  which  Pius  IX.  had  been  the  spontaneous  author  and  was  the  con- 
stant promoter,  soon  brought  into  action.  Still  we  concluded  with 
the  wish  (and  it  was  too  plain  that  the  wish  was  not  unmixed  with 
fear)  that  we  might  not  here,  too,  find  human  passions  and  private 
interests  thwarting  a sacred  work,  and  rendering  the  pure  patriotism 
which  inspired  it  of  none  effect.  . . . Obstacles  are  encountered 

in  the  very  quarter  where,  according  to  all  reason,  ready  consent 
and  earnest  co-operation  ought  to  have  been  found.  It  is  there  too — • 
so  unhappy  are  our  times — that  sharp  words  of  accusation  are  heard 
against  the  pontiff,  as  if  he  no  longer  wished  for  the  league  which 
he  was  the  first  to  imagine  and  to  broach.  And  why  these  changes  ? 
The  answer  is  simple,  and  it  is  this  : that  the  pontiff  who  initiated 
the  league  has  not  blindly  followed  the  Piedmontese  project.” 

And  elsewhere:  ^'If  we  be  really  consulting  for  Italy  more  than 
anything  else,  it  would  be  a more  sound,  sincere,  and  patriotic  de- 
sign first  to  knit  firmly  the  league,  and  meantime  to  leave  to  the 
contracting  States  leisure  solidly  to  reconstitute  their  armies. 

The  papal  project  is  most  simple  in  plan ; it  may  be  summed  up 
in  a few  words.  ‘ There  is  a political  league  among  the  constitu- 
tional and  independent  monarchies  of  Italy  adhering  to  the  conven- 


Defended  by  Rossi. 


209 


tion.  Plenipotentiaries  of  eacli  independent  State  shall  assemble  at 
Pome  without  delay,  in  a preliminary  congress,  to  deliberate  upon 
the  common  interests,  and  to  lay  down  the  organic  coYenants  of  the 
league.’ 

A thing  done  cannot  he  undone. 

By  this  direct  and  plain  course  the  goal  may  he  reached.  By 
any  other,  our  distance  from  it  must  go  on  increasing.  Italy,  al- 
ready the  victim  of  so  many  errors,  would  have  to  lament  one  more. 

^‘In  fine,  Pius  IX.  does  not  swerve  from  his  lofty  idea,  anxious 
now  as  heretofore  to  make  effectual  provision,  by  the  Italian  political 
league,  for  the  security,  dignity,  and  prosperity  of  Italy  and  of  its 
constitutional  monarchies.”* 

It  must  not  be  imagined  for  a moment  that  Pius  IX.,  while  thus 
bestowing  his  care  on  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  surest  and  speedi- 
est means  of  benefiting  Italy,  was  unaware  of  the  treacherous  designs 
of  the  Piedmontese  politicians,  or  blind,  in  any  sense,  to  the  extreme 
revolutionary  measures  which  the  Mazzinians  were  ripening  in  Eome 
against  his  government  and  his  person. 

He  was  perfectly  aware  that  the  conspirators  had  undermined  the 
very  ground  beneath  him  and  that  their  train  was  carefully  laid,  and 
the  moment  of  explosion  determined  in  their  own  councils.  Yet  he 
trod  the  earth  with  as  firm  a step  and  serene  a mind  as  if  he  were  con- 
scious of  no  danger.  It  was  this  sublime  courage  that  won  him  the 
admiration  of  his  lay  ministers  as  well  as  of  the  Sacred  College. 

We,  amid  all  these  calamities,”  he  would  say  to  a deputation  from 
the  Council  of  State,  pray  more  fervently  to  the  divine  majesty, 
beseeching  him  to  preserve  Italy  from  every  misfortune,  to  enlighten 
her  sons  as  to  their  true  interests,  and  to  cause  to  spring  forth  on 
her  favored  soil  religion  and  peace,  the  only  sources  of  real  felicity.” 
To  another  deputation  asking  him  to  invoke  French  intervention : 

You  speak  of  calling  in  foreign  armies  ; but  such  a measure,  were 
it  desirable  or  politic,  requires  consideration  and  time.  And  then 
again  you  say  that  the  perils  which  threaten  us  are  such  as  to  admit 
of  no  delay.  I trust  to  that  providence  which  overrules  all  human 
designs,  not  to  leave  the  State  and  all  Italy  without  sufficient  re- 
sources in  this  extremity.  For  God  disposes  of  means  unknown  to 
us,  and  which  we  must  expect  with  confidence  and  accept  with  wor- 
shipful grati  tu  de.  ” 


* Farini,  vol.  ii.,  p.  384 


2 10 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


To  those  wlio  were  not  ashamed  to  reproach  him  with  his  child- 
like trust  in  the  efficacy  of  his  first  reform  measures,  and  his  un- 
reasoning confidence  in  *‘the  people’s”  gratitude,  he  would  reply 
good-naturedly  that  he  was  like  unwise  and  doting  parents,  who 
make  over  their  goods  to  their  children  before  death,  and  are  turned 
out  of  house  and  home  in  their  old  ago. 

But  there  was  a more  apt  illustration  which  he  used  to  explain 
the  difficulties  of  his  position  with  respect  to  the  clubs  and  Kadicals, 
to  whom  the  Amnesty  and  the  Fundamental  Statute  had  given  such 
unlimited  power  for  evil.  am  like  the  little  shepherd-boy  of  the 
Abruzzi,  who  had  for  companion  a great  necromancer.  The  boy 
had  seen  him  again  and  again  call  up  the  devil  amid  the  solitude 
and  silence  of  the  night,  and  had  learned  the  formula  of  incanta- 
tion. So  he  too  one  night  tried  the  power  of  the  spell.  The  evil 
one  arose  at  his  call,  and  the  frightened  child  would  fain  have  got 
rid  of  him.  He  had  not,  however,  learned  the  spell  that  could  lay 
the  fiend,  who  thenceforward  haunted  and  tormented  him.” 


CHAPTER  XYHI. 


Rossi  Prime  Mi^tister — He  Bridles  Autarchy — Deyotes  him- 
self WITH  THE  Pope  to  Reform — FixAjq-CES,  Telegraphs, 
Railways — Meeting  of  Cokspirators  at  Turin' — Rossi 
Warned — Training  of  the  Assassins — Rossi’s  Heroic 
Fortitude — The  Assassination. 


September-November,  1848. 


HEX  it  was  announced  in  Bologna  that  Count  Rossi  had 


V V undertaken  to  administer  the  government,  there  was  great 
rejoicing  among  all  the  citizens,  the  rabble  of  refugees  and  vaga- 
bonds together  with  the  clubs  alone  manifesting  a sullen  disappoint- 
ment. There  was  good  reason  both  for  the  joy  of  one  class  and  the 
wrath  of  the  other. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Austrians  on  August  the  8th,  ^Hhe  re- 
spectable citizens  had  laid  aside  their  arms  and  resumed  their  ac- 
customed avocations.  But  Bologna  had  become  a sink  into  which 
all  the  rascality  of  Italy  was  confluent.”  Those  were  the  days,” 
says  Farini,  ‘^in  which  mad  discord  brandished  her  torch  over 
wretched  Italy,  in  which  Mazzini’s  republicans  heaped  vituperation 
on  the  head  of  the  worsted  Charles  Albert,  and  paraded  everjrwhere 
the  phantom  of  treachery  with  such  glee  and  wantonness.  . . . 

They  tried  to  induce  G-enoa  to  rise,  and  also  Leghorn  ; they  in- 
flamed the  public  mind  against  all  things  and  all  governments, 
shouting.  The  People!  the  People!  Government  ly  the  People! 
War  ly  the-  People  ! They  intoxicated  the  young,  deluded  the  sim- 
ple, took  the  discontented  into  their  ranks,  and  the  desperadoes  into 
their  pay.  . . . The  condition  of  Bologna  furnished  matter  to 

experiment  upon.  Leaders,  speakers,  soldiers  of  fortune,  rushed 
thither  and  inflamed  the  blood,  the  bile,  the  lust,  the  vengeance  of 
the  armed  multitudes  ; they  fomented  all  the  noise,  all  the  disorder, 
and  all  the  anarchy.” 

The  city  all  through  the  month  of  August  was  in  the  hands  of 


211 


212 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


this  saiiguinar}^  crowd,  who  pillaged  and  murdered  indiscriminately 
till  the  government  sent  thither  Cardinal  Amat  as  commissioner  of 
the  four  legations,  and  Signor  Farini,  the  minister  of  the  interior, 
for  the  purpose  of  quelling  this  awful  anarchy.  Farini  arrived 
secretly  on  September  the  2d.  The  bad  had  increased  and  were 
still  increasing,”  he  wrote,  '^in  the  streets  and  open  places  of  the 
city ; for  two  days  the  brigands  had  been  slaughtering  every  man 
his  enemy  among  the  government  officers.  ...  If  the  fallen 
gave  signs  of  life,  they  reloaded  their  arms  in  the  sight  of  the  people 
and  the  soldiers,  ...  or  else  put  an  end  to  their  victims  with 
their  knives.  They  hunted  men  down  like  wild  beasts.  . . . The 
corpses — a frightful  spectacle — remained  in  the  public  streets.  I 
saw  it — saw  death  dealt  about,  and  the  abominable  chase.  . . . 

The  citizens  skulked  ; the  few  soldiers  of  the  line  either  mixed  with 
the  insurgents  or  were  wholly  without  spirit,  . . . the  volun- 

teer legions  and  free  corps  a support  to  the  rioters  and  not  to  the 
government.  ” 

It  was  remembered  by  the  oppressed  citizens  that  the  restoration 
of  order  was  due  to  the  energy  of  the  Moderate  Liberals,  whose 
leaders  were  Farini  and  Eossi ; but  the  clubs,  the  volunteer  and 
free  corps  did  not  forget,  and  were  biding  their  opportunity  for  re- 
venge. 

No  sooner  had  Rossi  accepted  a position  in  the  ministry  than  he 
was  unanimously  elected  deputy  of  the  city  of  Bologna.  General 
Zucchi,  then  minister  of  war,  was  sent  a little  later  to  repress  a new 
outbreak  of  disorder  threatened  by  the  appearance  of  Garibaldi, 
the  intrigues  of  Young  Italy,  and  the  inflammatory  harangues  of 
Gavazzi,  who  was  exciting  the  masses  to  rise  for  the  ‘‘people's  war.” 
This  firebrand,  who  had  been  the  main  instrument  of  the  agitators 
in  Leghorn  and  all  through  Tuscany,  was  arrested  by  Zucchi  and 
sent  to  Rome,  where  he  became  the  idol  of  the  rabble  and  shared 
with  Ciccruacchio  the  leadership  of  the  mob  in  all  the  scenes  of 
blood  and  sacrilege  that  disgraced  the  Eternal  City. 

“The  ‘war  of  the  people’  proclaimed  by  Mazzini  had  com-^ 
menced.  With  the  instinct  of  the  statesman  Rossi  perceived  its 
tendencies,  and  determined,  in  Rome  at  least,  to  bridle  those  anar- 
chical proclivities  which  threatened  to  subvert  the  government,  to 
perpetuate  discord,  and  to.  rivet  more  effectually  the  chains  by 
which  Austria  held  Italy  in  bondage.  The  task  was  fraught  with 
peril,  but  he  resolved  with  energy  and  firmness  to  assert  the  cause  of 


Rossi  Devotes  himself  to  the  Pope  s Reforms,  213 

constitutional  freedom  against  the  dictation  of  the  clubs ; whilst  he 
proclaimed  the  necessity  for  a pacific  and  temporizing  policy  for  the 
advancement  of  the  cause  of  national  unity  and  independence, 
which  the  much-vaunted  ^war  of  the  people’  threatened  to  im- 
pede.” * 

In  the  cabinet  of  which  he  was  the  chief,  Eossi  had  for  associates 
Cardinal  Soglia,  as  secretary  of  foreign  affairs ; Cardinal  Vizzardelli, 
minister  of  public  instruction ; Signor  Cicognani,  minister  of  jus- 
tice ; Signor  Eignano,  minister  of  public  works ; Signor  Montanari, 
minister  of  commerce,  Eossi  himself  being  minister  of  the  interior 
and  of  finance.  Cardinal  Antonelli  w\as  made  governor  of  the  pon- 
tifical palaces,  with  apartments  in  the  Quirinal. 

The  new  ministry  was  looked  upon  with  detestation  by  the  Eadi- 
cals,  if  for  no  other  reason,  because  the  ministry  of  police  had  been 
abolished  and  incorporated  with  that  of  the  interior,  thus  depriving 
that  double-died  traitor,  Galletti,  of  a position  and  authority  he  had 
held  so  long  and  perverted  to  the  very  worst  purposes.  It  was  not 
looked  upon  with  favor  by  the  extreme  Conservatives,  who  con- 
sidered Eossi  to  be  a more  dangerous  man  than  an  avowed  Eadical. 

But  Pius  IX.  had,  by  long  intercourse,  discovered  in  Eossi  quali- 
ties of  head  and  heart  which  compensated  and  corrected  the  aberra- 
tions derived  from  early  education  and  the  constant  contact  with 
the  skepticism  of  Geneva  and  Paris.  The  prime  minister,  on  his 
side,  had  a deep  and  sincere  admiration  for  Pius  IX.,  whose  genius, 
patriotism,  and  heroic  self-denial  he  thoroughly  appreciated.  He 
could  only  blame  him  for  his  unwillingness  to  declare  war  against 
Austria,  and  to  lead  in  person  the  crusade  in  favor  of  Italian  im 
dependence.  But  he  lived  long  enough  to  understand  that  the 
supreme  pontiff  could  not  do  what  other  sovereigns  had  a right  to 
do,  that  his  principality  was  a peaceful  one,  in  war  against  none  and 
under  the  protection  of  all.  Of  weakness,  of  inconsistency,  Eossi 
never  accused  him,  for  he  knew  him  to  be  utterly  unselfish,,  and 
guided  in  all  things  by  conscience  and  highest  principle. 

With  his  whole  heart  and  soul  Eossi  threw  himself  into  the  labor 
of  making  constitutional  government  a success  in  the  Papal  States, 
where  success  was  rendered  most  difficult  by  the  mixed  nature  of 
the  government.  He  set  about  retrieving  the  finances,  disordered, 
as  we  have  seen,  by  the  invasions  of  the  French,  and  the  troubles 


* Legge,  ii.  52,  53. 


.214 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


that  ensued,  and  still  more  disordered  by  the  expenses  of  the  lato 
■war.  The  Pope  gave  him  cordial  aid ; and  no  less  hearty  was  Uio 
co-operation  of  the  Sacred  College,  the  religions  orders,  and  the 
beneficed  clergy.  The  spontaneous  offers  of  the  latter  were  so 
generous  that  a single  year  of  peaceful  administration,  together 
with  the  development  of  industry  and  commerce,  must  have  restored 
the  credit  of  the  pontifical  treasury.  But  Rossi’s  was  an  enlight- 
ened economy.  He  knew  that  the  telegraph  and  the  railway  were 
among  the  most  powerful  instruments  of  trade,  as  well  as  the  most 
needful  means  of  civil  and  military  administration.  Telegraphic 
lines  were  immediately  established,  and  two  main  lines  of  railway — 
one  from  Rome  to  Ancona,  Bologna,  and  Ferrara,  the  other  from 
Rome  to  Civita  Vecchia — were  at  once  placed  in  the  hands  of  com- 
petent corporations,  aided  by  all  the  means  the  government  could 
command. 

All  these  and  other  projected  improvements  the  indefatigable  min- 
ister explained  in  the  Roman  Gazette  of  October  the  2d.  ^^May  it 
please  God,”  the  minister  said  in  concluding,  ‘Hhat  our  hopes  bo 
not  baffled  by  criminal  passions,  wild  impulses,  and  the  unpardonable 
blunders  which  have  too  often  baffled  other  reasonable  and  splendid 
hopes !” 

Gioberti  had  summoned  a national  conference  to  meet  in  Turin,  to 
consider  the  questions  relating  to  the  national  independence  and 
unity.  Prince  Can  in  o and  Sterbini,  the  leaders  and  the  disgrace  of  the 
Roman  democracy,  had  gone  thither,  apparently  to  meet  the  represen- 
tative men  of  Italy,  in  reality  to  further  their  own  selfish  and  nefari- 
ous designs.  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  Canine’s  cousin  and  for- 
mer co-rebel,  had  just  been  elected  to  the  French  national  assembly 
through  the  infiuence  of  the  French  Radicals,  and  Canine,  who  only 
used  his  ultra-Radicalism  in  the  Roman  chambers  as  a cloak  to  cover 
more  ambitious  purposes,  had  met  in  Turin  special  messengers  from 
the  man  soon  to  be  president  of  the  French  republic. 

The  one  point  on  which  the  Radical  leaders  who  had  gone  to 
Turin  agreed  was,  that  Italy  should  have  but  one  constituent  assem- 
bly, and  that  to  effect  its  immediate  convocation  all  opponents  and 
obstacles  should  at  once  be  swept  away  by  ‘Ghe  people.”  Sterbini 
and  Canino  returned  by  the  way  of  Genoa,  Leghorn,  and  Florence, 
concerting  with  ‘Hhe  party  of  action”  in  these  cities  the  steps  by 
which  the  Roman  government  should  be  forthwith  taken  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  monarchists.  From  Leghorn  information  was  sent  to 


Rossi  Warned, 


2i5 


Rossi  that  a sedition  would  surely  break  out  in  Rome  on  l^ovember  the 
15th,  the  day  appointed  for  the  meeting  of  the  chambers.  This  intel- 
ligence was  confirmed  by  what  occurred  after  the  arriyal  of  the  two 
demagogues  in  the  capital.  They  painted  in  the  most  glowing  colors 
the  glories  of  the  democratic  government  established  in  Tuscany  by 
Guerazzi  and  Montanelli,  exalted  the  genius  of  the  latter,  who  had 
been  the  first  to  propose  a single  constituent  assembly  for  all  Italy, 
denounced  the  project  of  a confederated  Italy  as  the  dream  of  the 
Pope’s  absolutist  brain,  sought  to  be  realized  by  Rossi,  the  tool  of 
Louis  Philippe  and  Guizot  and  the  apostle  of  monarchism  and  the 
right  divine  of  priestly  government. 

The  very  soil  of  Rome  during  these  memorable  days  shook  like 
the  ground  in  the  vicinity  of  the  huge  geysers  of  the  Yellowstone 
Valley  when  the  seething  waters  beneath  are  about  to  rush  into  mid- 
air : the  atmosphere  itself  was  pregnant  with  the  intolerable  mystery 
of  coming  evil. 

Much  more  than  Bologna,  in  early  August  the  capital  ^Giad  be- 
come a sink  into  which  all  the  rascality  of  Italy  was  confluent.” 
There  were  20,000  armed  men — soldiers  of  the  line  or  carabineers, 
civic  guards,  and  returned  volunteers — every  one  of  whom,  ofiicers 
and  men,  had  been  tampered  with  and  brought  over  to  the  designs 
and  passions  of  the  revolutionists.  Had  the  Pope  gone  about  the 
streets  of  Rome  on  foot,  and  observant  of  the  sights  and  sounds 
around  him  by  day  or  by  night,  he  must  have  heard  the  hoarse 
mutterings  of  this  seething  mass  of  evil  passion  and  breathed  in  the 
very  air  the  odor  that  foreboded  blood  and  revolution. 

The  true-hearted  Castellani,  the  Venetian  envoy  in  Rome,  had 
written  to  his  government  as  early  as  September  : Every  one  talks 
of  the  republican  plot,  its  heads  are  pointed  out,  and  just  so  much 
is  known  about  it  as  suffices  to  magnify  both  fear  and  hope.”  Just 
as  the  15th  of  November  was  drawing  nigh,  a rumor  was  most  in- 
dustriously circulated  in  the  streets  and  public-houses,  to  the  effect 
that  Rossi  had  bound  the  government  by  treaty  to  deliver  up  to  the 
king  of  Naples  all  the  Neapolitan  refugees  in  Rome ; it  was  said 
that  the  courier  bearing  the  treaty  had  been  intercepted,  and  that 
already  some  of  the  persons  implicated  had  been  arrested. 

Rossi,  who  was  abundantly  warned  of  all  these  seditious  rumors 
and  plots,  was  not  disturbed  by  them.  He  had  resolved  that  parlia- 
ment should  meet  on  the  day  appointed,  and  that  he  should  open  it 
in  the  name  of  the  sovereign.  Determined  as  he  was  to  quell  every 


2I6 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


attempt  at  disturbance,  he  held  a review  of  the  carabineers  on  the 
14th,  on  the  piazza  in  front  of  St.  Peter’s,  and  made  the  troops 
march  through  the  principal  streets  of  Rome.  He  little  suspected 
that  not  one  man  of  them  all  could  be  trusted.  On  the  same  day  he 
published  an  admirable  article  in  the  Gazette,  setting  forth  the 
policy  of  the  administration  and  deprecating  the  fanaticism  which 
would  seek  to  return  to  the  impossible  past,  as  well  as  that  which 
would  destroy  all  existing  institutions  to  realize  an  equally  im- 
possible future. 

The  Contemporaneo  of  that  same  day,  however,  contained  from 
Sterbini’s  murderous  pen  articles  which  were  singularly  clear-spoken 
about  what  was  to  happen  on  the  morrow.  Rossi  is  commissioned,” 
he  wrote,  ^^to  make  the  experiment  in  Rome  of  the  Metternichs  and 
the  Guizots.  . . . Amidst  the  laughter  and  the  contempt  of  the 

people  he  will  fall ; but  this  does  not  absolve  us,  after  having  called 
him  the  betrayer  of  the  cause  of  Italy,  from  calling  him  also  the 
betrayer  of  the  sovereign  who  has  raised  him  to  his  place.” 

What  remains  to  be  told  is  so  horrible,  such  a commentary  on  the 
results  of  civilization  in  a city  once  the  capital  of  the  civilized  world, 
and  for  eighteen  centuries  the  residence  of  the  chief  bishop  of  the 
Christian  Church,  that  a Catholic  pen  would  refuse  to  chronicle  it, 
or  a Catholic  historian  would  expose  himself  to  the  suspicion  of 
enormous  exaggeration,  were  it  not  that  every  detail  here  offered  to 
the  reader  is  carefully  gleaned  from  Protestant  authors. 

There  was  a conspiracy,  then,  to  murder  a man  whose  only  guilt 
was  an  intense  devotion  to  Italy,  the  life-long  endeavor  to  serve  her 
as  his  conscience  led  him,  the  firm  purpose  to  overcome  by  sheer 
zeal  and  intelligent  effort  every  obstacle  toward  her  peace  and  great- 
ness, and  a sincere  loyalty  toward  the  pontiff-king.  The  conspira- 
tors had  resolved  to  slay  that  man  not  in  the  darkness  of  night,  but 
at  noon-day,  beneath  the  gaze  of  the  soldiers  of  the  nation  and  the 
chosen  representatives  of  the  nation,  and  at  the  very  moment  when 
he  was  fulfilling  one  of  the  most  solemn  public  duties  as  prime  min- 
ister of  the  constitutional  government  he  had  himself  labored  so  lov- 
ingly to  create. 

They  had  chosen  by  lot  three  of  their  number  to  be  the  executors 
of  tlie  murderous  deed,  and  lest  one  chance  of  life  should  remain  to 
their  victim,  these  three  were  to  be  aided  or  abetted  by  a select  host 
of  volunteers  and  practiced  cutthroats,  who  should  hem  the  victim 
in  and  close  up  every  avenue  to  escape  or  assistance.  But  ^Hhe 


The  Assassination, 


217 


three”  were  to  be  schooled  to  make  sure  and  short  work  of  it.  One 
especially,  Sante  Constantadini,  honored  as  the  man  best  fitted  by 
supremacy  in  crime,  and  skill  in  the  practice  of  assassination,  to 
strike  the  fatal  blow,  ‘‘had  been  instructed  by  a surgeon  where  to 
strike  so  as  to  divide  the  great  artery  of  the  neck.  To  make  sure  of 
his  victim  the  assassin  had  carefully  practiced  on  a model ; hideous 
to  relate  that  model  Avas  a fellow-countryman,  who  had  perished  at 
the  hand  of  a frenzied  political  assassin.”  * 

“Do  not  go  to  the  council  hall;  death  waits  you  there!”  was 
the  message  sent  to  Eossi  that  very  night  by  a French  lady,  the 
Countess  de  Menon.  “Do  not  leaA^e  your  own  house  or  you  shall 
be  murdered  1 ” wrote  the  Duchess  di  Eignano.  But  Eossi  busied 
himself  during  the  spare  leisure  moments  of  the  night  in  preparing 
his  address  to  the  chambers — a masterpiece  of  political  wisdom,  the 
promise  and  pledge  of  the  great  things  Avhich  Pius  IX.  and  himself 
meditated  for  Italian  freedom  and  greatness. 

Other  warnings  came  to  him  in  the  morning ; but  the  high-souled 
minister  heeded  them  not,  and,  as  noon  drew  near,  he  drove  to  the 
Quirinal  to  take  the  commands  of  his  sovereign.  The  Pope  had 
also  been  warned  and  threatened ; and  his  gentle  soul  recoiled  vdth 
horror  from  the  thought  of  exposing  a life  so  precious  as  that  of  his 
faithful  servant.  “At  least,”  the  Holy  Father  said,  “do  not  be  rash 
or  expose  yourself  needlessly ; you  must  spare  our  enemies  a great 
crime,  and  me  a soitoav  that  nothing  could  remedy.”  “I  have  no 
fear,”  was  the  answer,  “these  men  are  cowards  and  will  not  dare  to 
execute  their  threats.  Only  bless  me,  most  Holy  Father,  and  all 
shall  be  well.”  And  kneeling  with  deep  emotion  he  received  the 
pontifical  blessing,  kissed  the  fatherly  hand,  bowed  himself  out,  and 
went  on  his  way.  As  he  was  about  to  leave  the  palace  Monsignor 
Morini  gave  him  a last  warning.  “ I defend  the  cause  of  the  Pope,” 
was  the  calm  and  firm  reply;  “and  the  cause  of  the  Pope  is  the 
cause  of  God.  I must  and  will  go.” 

The  vast  palace  of  the  Cancelleria,  on  one  side  of  the  Campo  di^ 
Fiore,  the  great  market-place  of  Eome,  had  been  assigned  for  the 
meetings  of  the  Eoman  parliament.  “A  battalion  of  the  civic  guard 
was  drawn  up  in  the  square.  The  government  thought  it  needful  to 
take  no  other  precaution.  ...  In  the  court-yard  crowds,  com- 


* Legge,  vol.  ii.,  p.  67,  where  he  abridges  from  Alison  and  Cochrane.  We 
follow  him  principally  in  this  narrative  of  Rossi’s  death. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


218 

posed  of  all  classes  of  the  people,  were  assembled,  eager,  anxious,  and 
impatient.  Few  amongst  the  thousands  who  there  jostled  one  ano- 
ther could  give  an  intelligent  reason  wherefore  they  had  assem- 
bled. . . . True,  the  agitators  of  the  clubs  had  exhorted  them 

to  assemble ; but  wherefore  ? . . . Conspicuous  among  the 

crowd  were  men  with  savage  countenances  armed  with  daggers,  who, 
by  their  dress  and  the  medals  with  which  Rossi  had  decorated  them, 
were  recognized  as  volunteers  who  had  returned  from  Vicenza. 
They  stood  well  together,  forming  a line  from  the  gate  of  the  palace 
to  the  staircase.  . . . The  ferocious  but  suppressed  impreca- 

tions which  ever  and  anon  they  were  heard  to  utter,  quickened  the 
already  fevered  excitement  of  the  spectators.  . . . 

At  a quarter-past  twelve  Rossi’s  carriage  entered  the  court-yard. 
The  minister  was  greeted  with  a volley  of  hisses,  and  the  excitement 
was  intensified  by  a cry  for  help  emanating  from  the  gallery.  The  at- 
tention of  the  guard  was  thus  arrested  at  the  moment  when  Rossi  and 
Righetti,  the  deputy  minister  of  finance,  alighted  from  the  carriage 
which  they  jointly  occupied.  With  a quick  and  steady  step,  and  an 
impassive  countenance,  Rossi  advanced,  disregarding  a terrific  howl 
raised  by  the  volunteers,  and  echoed  by  a thousand  voices.  . . . 

Before  Righetti  had  descended  from  the  carriage,  Rossi  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  foul-mouthed  wretches  who  had  thus  greeted  him. 
, . . The  ruse  of  the  feigned  cry  for  help  from  the  gallery  was 

perceived,  and  at  the  same  instant  was  seen  the  fiash  of  a poniard. 
Rossi  staggered  and  fell ; Righetti  rushed  forward  to  the  support  of 
his  chief,  raised  him  in  his  arms,  and  exposed  to  view  a gaping 
wound  in  the  neck,  from  which  the  blood  spirted  copiously.  The 
dying  man  looked  around  him,  but  was  unable  to  articulate  a word ; 
and  the  sight  upon  which  his  eyes  closed  was  a savage  look  of  triumph 
upon  the  faces  of  those  fiends  in  the  uniform  of  the  volunteers,  who 
pressed  around  him,  enabling  the  assassin  to  walk  off  unmolested. 
The  dying  minister  was  carried  to  the  apartments  of  Cardinal  Guz- 
zoli,  where,  after  a few  minutes,  he  breathed  his  last.”  * 

That  heroic  soul  did  not  pass  to  the  judgment-seat  before  a priest 
from  the  neighboring  church  of  San  Lorenzo  e Damaso  had  ministered 
to  it  the  last  sacraments  of  the  dying.  The  courageous  Righetti  then 
drove  through  the  demon  crowd  in  the  court-yard  and  the  Piazza 
straight  to  the  Quirinal  to  inform  the  sovereign  pontiff,  and  to  adopt 


* Legge. 


Fiendish  Triu7nph  of  the  Assassins.  219 

Buch  immediate  measures  of  precaution  as  the  terrible  emergency  de- 
manded. 

He  was  covered  with  the  blood  of  his  friend  when  he  amved  in 
the  presence.  Pius  IX.  was  speechless  with  grief  and  horror.  It 
was  some  time  before  he  could  master  his  emotion,  and  all  his  at- 
tendants were  equally  horror-struck.  ^‘It  is  the  death  of  a martyr  !” 
he  at  length  said,  struggling  with  his  grief.  ^‘May  God  receive  his 
soul  to  rest ! ’’  His  next  thought  was  to  send  a message  of  fatherly 
sympathy  to  the  Countess  Eossi,  who  had  spent  the  morning  in 
agony ; for  she,  too,  with  a woman’s  keen  sense  of  danger  to  her  loved 
ones,  had  forebodings  of  the  tragedy,  but  was  too  worthy  of  her  hus- 
band to  prevent  him  from  doing  his  duty. 

The  shouts  from  the  street  had  reached  her  before  the  arrival  of 
the  pontifical  messenger.  Hastening  to  the  Cancelleria  she  found 
him  a corpse  to  whose  varying  fortunes  she  had  long  ago  wedded  her 
young  life.  The  officers  and  prelates  who  beheld  the  bereaved  widow 
prostrate  beside  the  man  she  idolized,  were  melted  into  tears.  But 
even  then  there  was  just  apprehension  lest  the  murderous  crowd 
should  profane  the  remains  of  the  dead  and  outrage  the  sacred  feel- 
ings of  the  living. 

The  Franciscan  Father  Vaures,  who  was  much  attached  to  Eossi, 
conveyed  the  body  secretly  and  speedily  to  the  neighboring  church 
of  San  Lorenzo.  It  was  embalmed  without  a moment’s  delay 
and  buried  that  very  night,  while  all  Eome,  or  what  was  still 
pure  and  manly  in  Eome,  was  compelled  to  assist  at  the  devils’ 
dance  ” held  by  the  successors  of  the  men  who  fought  under  Cincin- 
natus.  The  grave  so  hurriedly  opened  had  not  closed  over  the  illus- 
trious dead,  when  the  fiends  who  had  shed  his  blood  passed  in  tri- 
umph before  her  door  bearing  aloft  the  blood-stained  assassin  with 
his  knife,  shouting  blessings  on  the  hand  that  did  the  deed,  and 
curses  on  the  victim,  and  compelling  his  family  to  illuminate  their 
house  in  honor  of  the  event. 

When  it  was  granted  the  pontifi  to  enjoy  a few  years  of  troubled 
repose  between  the  reign  of  blood  thus  ushered  in  and  the  final  tri- 
umph of  Piedmontism,  he  compelled  Eome  to  witness  what  repara- 
tion he  could  make  to  justice,  innocence,  and  patriotism,  immolated 
in  Pellegi’ino  Eossi.  Solemn  obsequies  were  performed,  and  a suita- 
ble but  modest  monument  erected  over  his  grave.  The  brief  but 
pregnant  inscription  preserves  his  last  words,  with  the  mention  of  the 
hellish  conspiracy  that  cut  short  his  life. 


220 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Optimam  niiln  causam  tuendam  assumpsi.  Miserebitur  Deus, 
(‘‘I  have  undertaken  to  defend  the  best  of  causes ; God  will  look  with 
mercy  on  me.’’)  And,  Impiorum  consilio  meditata  ecede  occubuit, 
(‘‘He  fell  by  a conspiracy  of  the  wicked,  the  victim  of  a premedi- 
tated assassination.”) 

For  six  years,  until  May,  1854,  the  murderer  was  at  large.  The 
republic  of  Garibaldi  and  Mazzini  never  attempted  to  bring  him  to 
justice.  They  knew  him  well,  and  would  have  rewarded  him,  had 
they  dared  to  be  consistent  with  themselves.  In  the  published  works 
of  Mazzini  there  occur  but  these  words  in  connection  with  this  foul 
deed  : ‘^Pass  by  the  assassination  of  Rossi.” 

Posterity  is  not  likely  to  pass  it  by  without  holding,  some  day,  a 
solemn  judicial  inquiry  on  the  prime  movers  in  this  dark  conspiracy ; 
it  shall  then  be  made  known  why  Mazzini  bade  ‘^his  posterity”  pass 
by  that  grave  and  that  victim. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Eclipse  of  Roman  Manhood — Soldieks  Frateknizing  with  As- 
sassins— Evil  Eminence  of  Sterbini  and  Canino — Pius 

IX.  REORGANIZING  THE  GOVERNMENT — ThE  INSURRECTION 
BEFOREHAND  WITH  HIM — XOBLE  CONDUCT  OF  DIPLOMATIC 

Body — Courage  of  Antonelli  and  the  Swiss  Guard — 
The  Quirinal  Attacked — The  Pope  yields  under  Pro- 
test— Action  of  the  Roman  Chambers — The  Swiss  Guard 
Disarmed — The  Pope  resolves  to  leave  Rome — Noble 
Letter  of  the  Venetian  Castellani. 

Rome  had  been  dishonored  by  a deed  as  cowardly  as  any  of  those 
for  which  manhood  ever  blushed.  How  fared  it  with  the  con- 
stitutional bodies  assembled  within  her  walls,  and  with  the  ancient 
nobility,  created  and  protected  and  enriched  by  her  long  line  of  pon- 
tiffs ? What  mark  of  devotion  did  they  show,  in  his  dire  extremity, 
to  their  living  representative,  the  generous,  the  liberal,  the  large- 
minded,  the  advocate  and  promoter  of  Italy’s  aggrandisement  and 
of  his  people’s  progress  ? 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies  was  in  full  attendance  at  the  very  mo- 
ment the  crime  was  consummated ; it  were  idle  now  to  deny  that 
many  if  not  most  of  its  members  were  apprised  beforehand  of  the  pur- 
pose of  the  assassins.  There  was  much  confusion  at  the  first  shouts 
from  the  court-yard ; there  was  horror  depicted  on  the  faces  of  not  a 
few  when  the  death  of  the  prime  minister  was  whispered  about.  But 
the  president,  Sterbinetti,  while  the  fiendish  howls  of  triumph  were 
still  echoing  in  his  ears,  called  the  chamber  to  order,  an"^-  bade  the 
clerk  call  the  roll.  Not  one  deputy  arose  to  question  or  to  protest. 
While  the  clerk  was  reading  the  members  quitted  the  hall,  some,  it 
may  be,  through  personal  fear,  others  through  curiosity.  But  not  a 
single  voice  was  raised  to  protest  against  the  infamy  of  their  chair- 
man, or  the  assassins  who  still  thronged  the  door-steps.  Not  one 
man  among  these,  the  elect  of  the  nation,  rushed  to  the  assistance  of 
that  illustrious  man  stricken  down  almost  beneath  their  eyes.  ‘^It 

221 


222 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


was  with  difficulty,”  says  Legge,  ^Uhat  the  servant  of  the  murdered 
minister  prevailed  on  any  one  among  the  crowd  ...  to  assist 
him  in  removing  the  body  of  his  master.  ” 

Sterbini,  from  his  seat  in  the  chamber,  as  he  saw  his  colleagues 
leaving  it,  asked  the  worthy  Sterbinetti : ‘MVhat  is  all  this  fuss 
about,  Mr.  President  ? Continue  the  sitting.  One  would  think  that 
man  was  king  of  Rome  ! ” 

The  members  who  did  not  belong  to  the  Young  Italy  League 
heard,  as  they  passed  through  the  crowds  in  court-yard  and  street, 
muttered  threats  against  themselves. 

Farini,  who  was  a known  friend  of  Rossi’s,  and  an  open  advocate 
of  his  views  of  constitutional  government,  was  particularly  odious  to 
the  sanguinary  multitude.  In  leaving  the  palace  of  the  Cancelle- 
ria,”  he  says,  ‘^one  met  some  faces  stark  with  an  hellish  joy,  others 
pallid  with  alarm,  many  townspeople  standing  as  if  petrified,  agita- 
tors running  this  way  and  that,  carabineers  the  same  ; one  kind  of 
men  might  be  heard  muttering  imprecations  on  the  assassin,  but  the 
generality  faltered  in  doubtful  and  broken  accents  ; some,  horrible  to 
relate,  cursed  the  murdered  man.  Yes,  I have  still  before  my  eyes 
the  livid  countenance  of  one  who,  as  he  saw  me,  shouted,  ^ So  fare 
the  betra3"ers  of  the  people  ! ’ ” * 

The  carabineers,  incited  by  the  example  of  their  colonel,  Calderari, 
fraternized  with  the  volunteers  and  the  murderers,  mingling  with 
the  mob  in  the  hideous  procession  after  dark,  ^^each  soldier  leaning 
on  the  arms  of  two  of  the  townspeople,  and  helping  to  break  open 
the  prisons  and  let  loose  all  their  criminal  inmates  upon  the  commu- 
nity.” Yot  one  officer  of  those  in  command  but  lent  himself  to  these 
orgies  ; there  is  no  instance  on  record  of  a single  remonstrance  even 
against  this  open  repudiation  of  all  military  discipline  and  manly 
shame.  General  Zucchi,  formerly  minister  of  war,  happened  to  be 
absent  in  Bologna,  and  there  were  no  railways  by  which  he  could 
hasten  to  Rome.  It  was  an  irreparable  misfortune  : he  was  not  the 
man  to  hold  parley  with  sedition,  or  to  hesitate  in  presence  of  danger. 

An  officer  of  unshaken  fidelity  and  unflinching  courage  in  the 
place  of  the  infamous  Calderari  would  have  rallied  the  carabineers 
to  their  duty,  and  swept  that  Roman  rabble,  that  compound  of  mud 
and  blood,  from  the  city.  Where  were  Prince  Aldobrandini  and 
General  Durando  ? 


• Quoted  hj  Legge,  ii.  C9. 


Evil  Eminence  of  Sterhini  and  Canino,  223 

But  did  not  the  senators,  the  magistrates,  the  nobles,  who  owed 
everything  they  were  and  everything  they  had  to  the  Popes,  did  they 
not  come  to  his  aid  during  that  dreadful  day  and  night,  and  the 
more  dreadful  morrow  ? No  ! not  one  ! 

^^All  the  great  nobles,”  says  Legge,  whether  from  cowardice  or 
from  the  consciousness  of  their  inability  to  stem  the  current,  had 
retired  to  their  estates.”  A noble  Pole  who  was  then  in  Rome  stig- 
matized this  open  dereliction  of  duty  and  absence  of  all  moral  eleva- 
tion. '^A  princess,”  he  wrote,  ^^who  has,  habitually,  much  influ- 
ence over  her  sons,  besought  them  on  her  knees,  and  besought  them 
in  vain,  to  pay  the  Holy  Father  a visit  of  condolence  and  sympa- 
thy. . . . All  the  ranks  of  society  . . . showed  them- 

selves on  that  day  unworthy  to  possess  in  their  midst  the  vicar  of 
Christ.  . . .”* 

Mamiani,  who  was  certainly  well  aware  of  the  existence  of  the 
conspiracy,  if  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  its  details,  found  it 
convenient  to  be  absent  on  the  15th  ; and  it  is  no  less  singular  than 
significant  that,  while  the  foreign  ambassadors  so  nobly  came  to 
the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Father  and  stood  by  him  during  these 
days  of  terror — the  representatives  of  Piedmont  and  Great  Britain 
were  conspicuously  absent.  For,  if  Lord  Minto  sometimes  found 
it  convenient  to  put  forward  his  confidential  mission  to  Rome,  he 
found  it  quite  politic  on  the  15th  of  November  and  the  two  succeed- 
ing days  to  avoid  the  Quirinal  and  to  court  the  Roman  mob  and  it 
leaders. 

Sterbini  and  the  Prince  of  Canino  were  foremost  in  the  streets,  the 
clubs,  and  the  council  chamber  during  these  three  days,  inflaming 
the  popular  passion,  praising  the  majesty  and  might”  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  concentrating  all  minds  and  wills  on  one  thought  and  one 
purpose — ^^one  constituent  assembly  for  all  Italy” — which  should 
meet  immediately  and  proclaim  the  Italian  republic.  A speech  de- 
livered on  the  18th,  resumes  the  unceasing  declamations  of  that  un- 
principled man.  ‘^I  vindicate  the  rights  of  the  Italian  people,  the 
true  and  legitimate  sovereigns  of  this  country.  The  constituent 
assembly  of  Italy  will  have  to  decide  many  questions  which,  in  its 
wisdom,  the  people,  the  victorious  peoj)le  of  Rome,  has  not  thought 
fit  to  solve.  . . . It  is  needless  for  me  to  address  myself  to  de- 

veloping an  idea — now,  thank  God,  become  that  of  all  Italy — which 


♦ Rohrbacher,  Histoire  de  VEglise, 


224 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


will  know  liow  to  shiver  both  chambers  and  thrones,  should  the^ 
seek  to  fetter  the  generous  and  energetic  impetus  of  this  the  first 
country  in  the  world.”  • 

‘‘Victorious  people  of  Rome,”  indeed!  and  “this  the  first  coun- 
try in  the  world  ! ” 

But  let  us  see  what  that  “ victory  ” w'as,  and  how  it  was  won.  If 
the  niurder  of  an  unarmed  man  at  the  very  door  of  the  halls  of  legis- 
lation be  any  part  of  that  victory,  the  claim  to  it  shall  not  be  dis- 
puted. The  sequel  was  not  unworthy  of  such  brave  beginnings. 

When  the  first  stupor  caused  by  Rossi’s  death  Avas  over,  Pius  IX. 
did  not  lose  a moment  in  reorganizing  the  government  so  as  to  face 
the  crisis  which  stared  them  all  in  the  face.  Montanari,  minister  of 
commerce,  was  intrusted  with  the  duty  of  forming  a new  administra- 
tion. Had  Zucchi  been  in  Rome  he  would  have  been  the  govern- 
ment. But  Leutulus  or  Lenzuolo,  Duke  di  Rignano,  the  head  of  the 
war  department,  was  too  deeply  imbued  wdth  the  policy  of  Mamiani, 
and  too  deep  in  the  confidence  of  the  plotters,  to  stand  by  his  sover- 
eign to  the  death,  or  to  risk  all  in  braving  the  mob. 

Pius  IX.  had  created  the  constituted  bodies  of  Rome  ; he  resolved 
};o  behave  like  a constitutional  sovereign  and  like  a Pope  in  this  ex- 
tremity. Come  what  might,  he  would  trust  himself  and  the  peace 
of  the  city  to  the  legally  established  authorities.  The  presidents  of 
the  upper  and  loAver  houses,  together  wdth  Prince  Corsini,  president 
of  the  senate,  were  summoned  to  meet  the  Pope  in  council  during 
the  early  morning.  But  morning  was  too  late.  Action  should  have 
been  taken  during  the  night,  if  they  purposed  being  beforehand  with 
insurrection. 

As  it  Avas,  insurrection  was  beforehand  with  the  sovereign  and  his 
counselors.  The  leaders  had  not  slept  when  the  rioters  went  home 
after  their  “devils’  dance”  and  their  posans  in  honor  of  assassination 
and  the  dagger.  They  had  made  sure  of  the  military  and  of  every 
depot  of  arms  and  ammunition  in  Rome.  With  the  dawn  they  were 
to  be  on  foot,  led  by  Sterbini  and  Canino,  demanding,  in  a voice  that 
must  be  heard,  a radical  ministry  and  a constituent  assembly  for  all 
Italy.  The  Pope  should  be  comjielled  to  sign  his  name  to  the  call 
for  a united  republican  Italy. 

With  the  dawn,  therefore,  and  before  the  officials  summoned  to 
council  could  arrive,  Lenzuolo  di  Rignano  brought  the  information 
that  “the  people”  were  going  to  call  on  his  Holiness  with  a pro- 
gramme of  their  own,  and  wished  that  the  military  authorities 


Noble  Attitude  of  the  Diplomatic  Body, 


225 


sliould  be  allowed  to  join  in  tbe  paeific  demonstration.  While  the 
Pope  was  discussing  his  chances  of  successful  resistance  with  a war 
minister  in  league  with  the  mob,  Prince  Corsini  and  the  presidents 
of  both  houses  arrived  in  the  Quirinal,  and  with  them  came,  unbid- 
den, Sterbini. 

But  a few  moments  before  their  entering  the  Quirinal  the  Pope 
had  rejected  a first  ministry  proposed  to  him  under  the  leadership  of 
Mamiani,  and,  having  inquired  of  Eignano  if  the  troops  could  be  re- 
lied upon,  was  told  that  they  only  could  in  so  far  as  they  ‘^were  not 
ordered  to  act  against  the  people.’’ 

The  people”  now  faced  him  in  the  odious  person  of  their  most 
determined  and  brutal  leader,  Sterbini.  Pius  gave  immediate  orders 
to  send  out  of  Eome  such  of  the  aged  cardinals  and  prelates  as  were 
most  unpopular,  and  bethought  him  only  of  protecting  from  outrage 
and  death  his  immediate  servants  and  dependants. 

He  felt  instinctively  that  nothing  would  satisfy  such  men  as  Ster- 
bini and  Canino,  but  the  total  abdication  of  his  own  sovereignty  and 
the  lending  to  their  revolutionary  projects  the  sanction  of  his  su- 
preme religious  authority.  The  latter  nothing  should  compel  him 
to  do  ; to  any  further  political  concessions  he  was  determined  to 
yield  only  by  force  and  to  save  the  lives  of  those  around  him.  It 
soon  came  to  that  extremity. 

The  most  advanced  Liberals,  like  Minghetti  and  Pasolini,  were 
now  as  hateful  to  the  Eadicals  as  Eossi  himself.  They  declined  form- 
ing a ministry ; and  no  name  seemed  acceptable  to  the  representa- 
tives of  the  clubs  but  that  of  G-alletti.  The  very  mention  of  the 
man  filled  Pius  IX.  with  irrepressible  repugnance.  He  was  pre- 
vailed upon,  however,  to  decline  giving  a decided  answer  till  even- 
ing. 

Meanwhile  the  diplomatic  corps,  seeing  the  assemblage  in  the  streets 
and  the  suspicious  movements  among  the  military,  hastened  by  one 
common  impulse  of  generosity  to  the  Quirinal  to  protect  the  Holy 
Father,  at  the  cost  of  their  lives,  if  need  were,  against  the  sacrilegious 
violenee  but  too  plainly  contemplated.  It  was  none  too  soon  when 
the  representatives  of  France,  Spain,  Bavaria,  Portugal,  Brazil,  Hol- 
land, and  Eussia  reached  the  Quirinal.* 

* The  names  of  this  noble  band  of  diplomats  deserve  to  be  mentioned  here  . 
The  Duke  d’Harcourt,  representing  France  ; Count  Spaur,  Bavaria  ; Martinez  della 
Rosa,  Spain,  'with  his  noble  Secretary  Gonzalez  de  Arnao  ; Baron  Venda-Cmz, 
with  Commander  Huston,  Portugal;  Figueiredo,  Brazil ; Count  Boutenieff,  Bus 


226 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


The  insurgents  had  marched  in  serried  ranks  to  the  Cancelleria, 
where  they  were  joined  by  all  the  republican  deputies,  and  with 
these  in  their  midst,  as  if  the  lawful  representatives  of  the  Roman 
people,  they  set  out  for  the  Quirinal.  A select  body  of  men  marched 
in  front  of  the  deputies,  serving  as  a guard  of  honor  and  bearing  a 
large  flag  on  which  were  inscribed  the  names  of  Galletti  and  Sterbini 
and  the  other  members  of  the  revolutionary  ministry  to  be  forced 
upon  the  Pope,  and  an  inscription  telling  all  who  could  read  that 
the  deputies  there  present  were  ^^the  constituent  assembly  for 
Italy.’’ 

Arrived  at  the  Quirinal,”  says  Legge,  ‘^Galletti  was  the  spokes- 
man of  the  mob,  with  whom  were  mingled  the  national  guards  in 
full  uniform,  but  unarmed,  the  carabineers  and  the  regular  troops, 
amounting  in  all  to  some  20,000.  Pius  indignantly  refused  to  treat 
with  them.  . . . Galletti  in  vain  besought  him  to  yield  to  tho 

popular  wishes.”  Among  the  demands  urged  upon  him  by  the  lead- 
ers was  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  against  Austria  and  the 
other  oppressors  of  Italy.  Mamiani  was  now  present,* *  and  this  de- 
mand, pressed  as  it  was  upon  the  sovereign  under  every  circumstance 
of  threatened  violence,  could  not  but  seem  to  him  the  culmination 
of  Mamiani’s  former  policy.  He  replied  that  what  they  asked  of 
him  was  simply  to  abdicate ; but  that  he  had  no  power  to  do  so. 
The  military  commanders  now  added  their  entreaties  to  those  of 
Galletti. 

Martinez  della  Rosa,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  unable  to  restrain 
his  indignation,  addressed  himself  to  the  spokesman  of  the  insur- 
gents as  they  were  about  to  withdraw.  ^‘Gentlemen,”  he  said,  tell 
the  leaders  of  this  revolt,  that  if  they  persist  in  this  odious  pro- 
ject, they  shall  have  to  march  over  my  dead  body  to  reach  the  sacred 
person  of  the  sovereign  pontiff.”  . • . . The  Duke  d’Harcourt, 

the  French  ambassador,  indignant  at  the  treachery  of  the  military 
officers  around  Galletti,  told  them  that  their  duty  did  not  consist 
in  being  there  to  intimidate  their  sovereign,  but  in  defending  him 
against  mob  violence. 

The  abashed  but  furious  spokesmen  went  out  to  report  their  ill- 
success.  “At  these  tidings,”  says  Farini,  “the  tumultuous  throng 
was  maddened,  and  cried  ‘ to  arms  ! ’ and  in  a moment  the  common- 

sia ; Liedekerke,  Holland.  Panto,  minister  of  Sardinia,  was  not  there  I Neither 
was  the  American  minister. 

* Artaud. 


Courage  of  Antonelli  and 'the  Swiss  Gttard,  227 

alty,  those  who  had  come  hack  from  Vicenza,  the  civic  guardsmen, 
the  carabineers,  the  foot  soldiers,  run  for  arms  and  return  to  the  Qui- 
rinal.  They  surround  it,  press  forward,  try  to  get  in,  and,  on  re- 
sistance by  the  Swiss  sentinels  become  more  enraged,  put  fire  to  one 
of  the  gates,  mount  upon  the  roofs  and  bell-towers  in  the  vicinity, 
begin  to  fire  their  pieces  at  the  walls,  gates,  and  windows  ; when  the 
Swiss  fire  in  return.’^ 

Of  the  Swiss  troops  in  the  pontifical  service  at  the  accession  of 
Pius  IX.,  only  a single  company  remained  at  Eome  as  the  Pope’s 
special  body-guard.  They  numbered  a hundred  men,  under  the  com- 
mand of  a colonel,  and  were  part  of  a corps  which  had  been  admired 
by  the  Koman  troops  themselves  for  the  heroic  bravery  they  displayed 
above  all  others  in  the  defense  of  Vicenza  against  the  Austrians. 
This  little  band,  with  a few  soldiers  of  the  Noble  Guards  were  the  only 
defenders  of  the  Quirinal  and  the  sovereign  pontiff,  against  20,000 
armed  soldiers,  aided  by  the  entire  populace. 

It  was  at  this  desperate  juncture  that  Cardinal  Antonelli  displayed 
the  indomitable  courage  in  the  defense  of  his  sovereign  and  the  lib- 
erty of  the  Holy  See,  which  was  to  shine  forth  so  brightly  through  the 
long  dark  years  they  had  both  to  pass  through  together  inseparably. 
He  had  every  approach  to  the  Quirinal  barricaded  in  haste,  the  gates 
and  doors  secured,  and  posted  his  handful  of  Swiss  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. He  expected  from  the  mob  led  by  Sterbini,  Galletti,  and  Ca- 
nine only  such  scant  mercy  as  had  been  shown  to  the  prime  minis- 
ter whose  blood  was  still  fresh  on  the  streets  of  Eome. 

What  gave  most  pain  to  Antonelli  and  his  brother  prelates  present 
in  the  palace  was,  to  see  among  the  armed  battalions  which  marched 
up  to  the  Quirinal  ^^with  music  and  drums”  the  students  of  the 
university  of  the  Sapienza,  armed  and  led  by  the  Prince  of  Canino. 
By  some  stratagem  Leopold  Meyer  von  Schauensee,  the  captain  of 
the  Swiss  guard,  was  lured  into  a parley  with  the  insurgents,  seized 
and  dragged  to  the  cannon’s  mouth,  for  the  purpose  of  blowing  him 
to  pieces  and  thereby  of  frightening  his  companions  into  surrender. 
As  his  captors  were  binding  him  to  the  cannon,  ‘‘  I know  that  piece,” 
said  the  undaunted  soldier,  ‘Ht  is  the  San  Pietro.  If  you  fire  it,  his- 
tory will  record  that  on  the  16th  of  November,  1848,  you  thereby 
put  to  death  an  officer,  who,  with  twenty-five  grenadiers  of  his  com- 
pany, retook  that  piece  from  the  Austrians  at  Vicenza.”  * 


* Artaud,  Lives  of  the  Popes.” 


228 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


The  cow^ards  did  not  dare  to  carry  out  their  purpose  ; but  they  re- 
tained the  brave  man  prisoner,  and  his  worthy  companions  were  only 
steeled  by  their  ignorance  of  his  fate  in  their  determination  never 
to  yield  their  sacred  trust. 

Pius  IX.,  while  thus  besieged  by  20,000  men  of  his  own  troops, 
and  all  the  cut-throats  collected  in  Eome  for  that  special  occasion 
by  the  industry  of  Young  Italy,  was  surrounded  by  the  diplomatic 
body — who  refused  to  quit  him  one  instant — Cardinals  Sogila  and 
Antonelli,  the  secret  chamberlains  and  officers  of  the  palace.  Father 
Vaures,  and  the  Count  de  Malherbes. 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  it  was  evident  that  the  die  was 
cast.  From  the  back  streets  men  emerged  bearing  aloft  long  lad- 
ders wherewith  to  scale  the  pontifical  abode  ; carts  and  wagons  were 
dragged  up  and  ranged  within  musket-shot  of  the  windows  to  pro- 
tect the  assailants  ; . . . the  cry  was  ^ to  arms  ! to  arms  ! ’ and 

musketry  began  to  bristle  in  the  approaches  from  every  direction ; 
fagots  were  produced  and  piled  up  against  one  of  the  condemned 
gates  of  the  building,  to  which  the  mob  was  in  the  aet  of  setting 
fire,  when  a brisk  discharge  of  firelocks  scattered  the  besiegers  in  that 
quarter.  . . . 

‘^The  drums  were  now  beating  throughout  the  city,  the  disbanded 
groups  of  regular  troops  and  carabineers  reinforcing  the  hostile  dis- 
play of  assailants,  and  rendering  it  truly  formidable.  Eandom  shots 
were  aimed  at  the  windows  and  duly  responded  to  ; the  outposts, 
one  after  another,  taken  by  the  people,  the  garrison  within  being  too 
scanty  to  man  the  outworks.  The  belfry  of  San  Carlino,  wdiich 
commands  the  structure,  was  occupied.  From  behind  the  equestrian 
statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux  a group  of  sharpshooters  plied  their 
rifles,  and  about  four  o’clock  Monsignor  Palma  (while  standing  at 
the  window  of  his  own  apartment)  was  killed  by  a bullet  penetrat- 
ing his  forehead. 

As  if  upwards  of  6,000  troops  of  all  ranks  were  not  considered 
enough  to  reduce  the  little  gamson  of  a couple  of  dozen  Swiss,  two  six- 
pounders  now  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  were  duly  pointed  against 
the  main  gate,  and,  a truce  having  been  proclaimed,  another  depu- 
tation claimed  entrance.  . . . The  deputation  were  bearers  of 

the  people’s  ultimatum^  which  was  a reproduction  of  the  five  points 
before  stated,  and  they  now  declared  that  they  would  allow  his  Holi- 
ness one  hour  to  consider ; after  which,  if  not  adopted,  they  an- 
nounced their  firm  jyurjyose  to  break  into  the  Quirinal,  and  put  to 


The  Pope  forced  to  grant  a Radical  Ministry,  229 

death  every  inmate  thereof y with  the  sole  and  single  exception  of  his 
Holiness  himself P * 

^^Tlie  Pope,  all  this  time,”  writes  the  Duke  d’Harcourt  to  his 
gOYemment,  showed  much  coolness  and  firmness;  hut  as  it  was 
impossible  to  oppose  resistance,  and,  besides,  as  he  was  less  able  and 
disposed  than  anybody  to  shed  blood,  it  was  necessary  to  do  what- 
ever was  demanded  by  his  own  troops,  who  besieged  him  in  his 
palace.” 

Of  course,  with  the  threat  of  massacring  every  man  among  his 
faithful  defenders  and  servants  hanging  over  his  head — and  it  was 
no  'idle  threat — the  Pope  had  to  yield.  But,  in  presence  of  the 
diplomatic  corps,  he  made  his  solemn  protest : Look  where  we 
stand  : there  is  no  hope  in  resistance ; already  a prelate  is  slain  in 
my  very  palace ; shots  are  aimed  at  it,  artillery  leveled.  We  are 
pressed  and  besieged  by  the  insurgents.  To  avoid  fruitless  blood- 
shed and  more  heinous  enormities,  we  give  way,  but,  as  you  see, 
gentlemen,  it  is  only  to  force ; so  we  protest.  Let  the  courts,  let 
the  governments  know  it ; we  give  way  to  violence  alone ; all  wo 
concede  is  invalid,  is  null,  is  void.” 

A list  of  ministers  was  now  proposed  by  the  insurgents,  but  the 
Pope  desired  Cardinal  Soglia  to  take  charge  of  all  further  negotia- 
tions. Mamiani  was  named  minister  of  foreign  affairs;  Galletti, 
minister  of  the  interior  ; Sterbini,  minister  of  commerce ; Lunati,  of 
finance ; Campello,  of  war,  and  Sereni,  of  justice.  Father  Rosmini, 
then  in  Rome,  was  placed  on  the  list  as  minister  of  public  instruc- 
tion ; but,  when  informed  of  his  nomination,  he  indignantly  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  blood-stained  Radicals. 

The  list  was  handed  to  the  Pope  for  his  signature.  He  per- 
emptorily refused,  and  the  agitation  began  anew.  Cries  of  Sign  ! 
sign  ! ” arose  from  the  motley  crowd  who  had  now  found  their  way 
into  the  audience-chamber,  and  a formidable  clamor  was  heard  out- 
side. Yielding  to  the  suggestion  of  the  statesmen  near  him,  he 
signed  the  list,  protesting  once  more  that  he  did  so  under  violence. 

Thereupon  Galletti,  with  the  list  in  his  hand,  proceeded  to  the 
balcony,  and  announced  the  Pope’s  submission  to  the  insurgents. 
^‘The  sovereign  has  given  us  a republic!”  spread  from  rank  to 
rank ; the  armed  men  fired  their  muskets  in  the  air  and  dispersed. 

Such  was  the  victory”  proclaimed  so  boastingly  by  Prince 


* Correspondence  of  London  Daily  News,  by  Rev.  Francis  Mahony. 


230 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  JX. 


Canino.  llis  name  was  not  proposed  as  one  of  the  democratic 
ministers,  and  the  omission  was  long  remembered  against  Mamiani 
as  an  unpardonable  act  of  weakness. 

On  this  very  day,”  says  Legge,  ‘^Cavour  published  an  article  in 
the  Risorgimento  (Resurrection)  of  Turin,  entitled  ‘ Revolutionary 
Measures,’  which,  after  dwelling  on  the  dangers  to  which  the  spirit 
of  revolution  exposed  Italy  and  Europe,  he  concluded  with  these 
prophetic  words ; ‘One  moment  longer  and  we  shall  see,  as  a last 
result  of  these  revolutionary  proceedings,  Louis  Napoleon  on  the 
throne  of  France.’  ” 

The  chambers  met  on  the  18th : in  the  upper  house,  among  all 
the  princes  and  prelates  nominated  by  Pius  IX.,  not  one  had  the 
manhood  to  raise  his  voice  in  condemnation  of  the  crimes  com- 
mitted during  the  last  three  days  ; nay,  they  were  not  even  alluded 
to  in  the  proceedings ! In  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  however,  to 
their  undying  honor  be  it  said,  “all  the  deputies  from  Bologna,  and 
many  others,  declared  that  they  would  not  sit  in  parliament,  unless 
the  brutal  and  cowardly  murder  was  solemnly  denounced,  and  the 
government  petitioned  to  make  an  instant  and  thorough  inquiry. 
Galletti  assented,  and  was  forward  to  declare  that  the  government 
would  testify  to  the  council  its  indignation,  and  its  determination  to 
investigate  and  punish,  but  when,  on  the  20th,  the  council  met,  the 
ministers  were  mute.  ...”  * 

Surely  this  silence  could  not  surprise  one  so  well  acquainted  with 
Italian  men  and  affairs  as  the  author  who  wrote  the  above  sentences. 
None  better  than  he  knew,  that  in  the  council  of  ministers  sat  the 
men  who  had  abetted  the  murder  of  Rossi,  if  they  had  not  aided 
zealously  in  its  consummation. 

On  the  18th  the  club  called  the  Circolo  Popolare,  founded  and 
directed  by  Sterbini,  and  now  the  real  governing  power  in  Rome, 
demanded  that  the  Swiss  Guard  “should  be  dismissed  without  their 
arms  from  the  Quirinal.”  Galletti  brought  the  proposition  to  the 
Pope,  and  he  submitted.  He  was  thenceforward  guarded  night 
and  day  by  men  who  had  sung  hymns  to  Rossi’s  murderer,  and 
had  intended  to  murder  every  inmate  of  the  Pope’s  own  palace. 
“Again,”  says  Farini,  “the  club  desired  that  Galletti  should  be 
general  of  carabineers,  and  general  he  was.  How  could  it  be 
helped  ? Where  was  authority  ? Where  the  force  that  backs  it  ? 


* Legge,  ii.  80. 


The  Pope  Resolves  to  leave  Rome, 


231 


The  troops  of  all  arms  had  either  abetted  or  kept  gala  for  the  revolt. 
Rome  was  topsy-turvy ; assassination  and  rebellion  were  celebrated 
with  triumph.”  The  Duke  d’Harcourt  had  concluded  his  account 
of  the  storming  of  the  Quirinal  on  the  16th  by  the  words ; The 
authority  of  the  Pope  is  now  absolutely  null.  It  exists  only  in 
name,  and  none  of  his  acts  will  be  free  and  voluntary.” 

The  government  of  the  universal  church  had,  from  the  beginning 
of  1848,  become  exceedingly  difiScult ; it  now  became  practically  im- 
possible. Every  department  of  government  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
revolutionists,  the  declared  enemies  not  only  of  the  Catholic  Church 
but  of  Christianity  itself.  And,  to  any  sagacious  mind,  it  was  quite 
evident  that  the  Radicals  would  not  be  long  satisfied  with  the  very 
faint  shade  of  conservatism  that  tinged  Mamiani’s  political  profes- 
sion of  faith.  They  wanted  and  would  have  a Radical  Italian  re- 
public, without  king  or  Pope,  or  any  form  of  ecclesiasticism  what- 
ever. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Holy  Father,  who  had  thrown 
aside  every  illusion,  and  believed  he  could  no  longer  benefit  the  Ro- 
man people  by  his  stay,  or  could  not  seem  to  lend  the  sanction  of  his 
name  to  acts  and  usurpations  for  which  he  would  be  held  responsible, 
acquiesced  in  the  unanimous  decision  of  the  ambassadors  of  the 
Catholic  powers  that  he  should  accept  an  asylum  elsewhere. 

This  determination  he  had  already  made  known  during  the  vio- 
lence done  him  in  May  and  J une.  The  revolutionists  had  not  for- 
gotten it ; and  they  now  watched  his  every  word  and  movement 
with  redoubled  jealousy.  It  is  certain  that,  on  the  very  first  sign 
of  his  intention  to  leave  Rome,  they  would  have  murdered  every  one 
of  his  counselors.  As  it  was,  the  ambassadors  prepared  everything 
warily  for  the  execution  of  their  purpose.  It  was  the  Pope’s  decision 
to  go  to  Spain  ; and  a Spanish  frigate  was  ordered  to  Civita  Vecchia. 
But  delays  occurred,  and  it  was  found  that  numerous  spies  watched 
all  the  approaches  to  the  Roman  coast,  and  besides,  suspicion  began 
to  be  alive  in  Rome  itself.  The  Duke  d’Harcourt  and  Count  Spaur, 
the  Bavarian  ambassador,  took  upon  themselves  to  conduct  with  all 
possible  secrecy  and  expedition  the  fiight  of  the  Holy  Father  to 
Gaeta,  just  beyond  the  Neapolitan  frontier. 

Before  entering  on  the  detailed  narrative  of  this  event,  it  may  re- 
pose the  mind  of  the  reader  to  contrast  with  the  too-general  pusilla- 
nimity of  illustrious  contemporary  Italians  in  their  conduct  toward 
the  Holy  Father  in  his  need,  the  beautiful  letter  of  the  Venetian, 


232 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Castellani.  When  Venice  rose  against  Austrian  domination  in  the 
preceding  March,  her  noble  defender,  Manin,  hastened  to  invoke 
the  Pope’s  blessing  on  the  unequal  struggle  he  and  his  fellow- 
countrymen  were  beginning.  Castellani  was  sent  to  Kome  as  the  re- 
presentative of  the  ancient  republic  near  the  Holy  See,  and  on  the 
27th  of  June,  Pius  IX.,  at  his  request,  addressed  with  his  own  hand 
the  following  words  to  the  Venetian  government : 

May  God  give  his  blessing  to  Venice,  and  deliver  her  from  the 
evils  she  fears,  in  such  way  as,  in  the  infinite  resources  of  his  provi- 
dence, it  shall  to  him  seem  good  ! ” 

With  his  whole  heart  and  soul  Pius  IX.  continued  to  sympathize 
with  Manin  and  his  heroic  countrymen  ; and  his  sending  Monsignor 
Morichini  to  Vienna  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  was  inspired  by 
the  hope  of  liberating  Venice,  or  of  securing  her  such  autonomy  as 
might  lead  to  better  things  in  the  near  future.  Castellani  had  seen 
Pius  too  often,  during  his  stay  in  Eome,  and  had  learned  to  appreci- 
ate too  well  that  heart  so  devoted  to  Italy  not  to  look  with  horror  on 
such  men  as  Sterbini  and  Galletti,  and  not  to  raise  his  voice  as  a sol- 
emn protest  against  the  unnatural  ingratitude  of  the  Eomans.  This 
letter  was  written  immediately  after  the  enormities  of  November  16. 

Most  Holy  Father  ; — Amid  the  august  sorrows  with  which 
the  sacred  person  of  your  Holiness  is  surrounded,  I approach  you, 
a sharer  in  all  their  bitterness,  to  place  at  your  disposal  my  whole 
strength,  whether  for  counsel  or  for  action.  As  the  representative 
of  a people  which  has  ever  blessed  your  name,  and  of  a government, 
which  amidst  the  confusion  of  these  times,  has  been  .mindful  to 
combine  the  development  of  ecclesiastical  rights  with  that  of  civil 
liberty,  I am  sure  I hereby  fulfill  one  of  my  most  exalted  duties. 
As  an  individual,  I cherish  in  the  depths  of  my  soul  the  remembrance 
of  the  honorable  reception  vouchsafed  me  ; and  I make  bold  to  kneel 
at  your  feet,  as  a son  who  seeks  to  soothe  the  affliction  of  his  father 
by  showing  the  depth  of  his  affection. 

'‘The  Almighty,  Most  Holy  Father,  watches  over  his  Vicar,  and 
wills  moreover  the  deliverance  of  Italy.  His  rigors,  in  your  calam- 
ities and  the  misfortunes  of  our  country,  perhaps  may  cover  mys- 
teries of  profound  mercy.  Until  these  shall  be  accomplished  may 
your  pure  spirit  never  desist,  on  account  of  present  sufferings,  from 
imitating  him  who  spoke  pardon  from  the  very  cross. 

"Afterward  he  rose  again,  and  with  him  the  world.  We,  too. 


Noble  Letter  of  the  Venetian ^ Castellani.  233 

Most  Holy  Father,  had  a life  of  tears.  Our  city  is  become  a spec- 
tacle both  of  glory  and  of  desolation.  Your  affection  spends  itself 
in  vain  upon  the  brothers  whose  name  and  hopes  we  are  defending ; 
and  we  are  forgotten  by  those  very  Christians  of  whose  faith  in  bar- 
barous ages  we  were  the  saviors.  And  Venice,  despite  all  this,  con- 
tinues to  pray,  to  pardon,  and  to  hope.  . . . 

‘‘  Give  us,  0 Father  of  the  faithful,  your  benediction,  and  may  God 
accept  my  petition  for  the  well-being  of  your  person  and  the  glory 
of  your  pontificate. 

^^G.  B.  Castellai^i.” 

It  is  the  pure  and  touching  glory  which  surrounds  such  names  as 
those  of  Daniel  Manin  and  Castellani  that  makes  the  cause  of  Italy 
so  inexpressibly  dear  to  Catholic  hearts,  in  spite  of  the  loathing  in- 
spired by  the  mention  of  a Mazzini,  a Sterbini,  and  a Canino. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


How  THE  Plight  was  Planked — Delays  : Agony  op  Countess 
Spaue — On  the  Road  to  Gaeta — Reception  of  the  Un- 
known AT  Gaeta — Count  Spaue  at  Naples — King  Feedi- 
NAND  hastens  TO  GaETA. 


November  24-26,  1848. 


HE  negotiation  of  a marriage  between  the  Prince  Royal,  Francis, 


J-  of  Naples,  with  the  Bavarian  Princess  Maria,  daughter  of  Duke 
Maximilian  Joseph,  afforded  Count  Spaur  and  his  wife  a pretext  for 
making  a hurried  journey  to  Naples,  and  it  was  determined  that 
the  Pope  in  disguise  should  accompany  them.  The  suggestion  of 
this  means  of  escape  appears  to  have  come  from  the  countess  her- 
self, and  was  agreed  to  by  the  ambassadors,  who  lent  their  aid  to- 
ward its  speedy  execution.  The  French  steamer  Tenare  was  ordered 
to  be  in  readiness  at  Civita  Vecchia  to  take  on  board  the  Duke 
d’Harcourt. 

D’Harcourt  was  to  take  upon  himself  the  perilous  task  of  getting 
the  Pope  away  from  the  Quirinal ; Count  Spaur  was  to  wait  with  his 
private  carriage  for  the  fugitive  at  a certain  spot,  in  the  deserted 
quarter  beyond  the  Coliseum,  beside  the  church  of  SS.  Pietro  e Mar- 
cellino ; and  beyond  Rome,  near  La  Riccia,  on  the  road  to  Albano, 
the  countess,  with  her  son  and  chaplain,  was  to  have  a coach  and 
six  swift  horses  in  readiness. 

At  dark  on  the  evening  of  the  24th,  the  Duke  d’Harcourt  went  in 
state  to  the  Quirinal  with  outriders  and  torch-bearers,  demanding  an 
immediate  audience  of  his  Holiness,  as  if  on  most  urgent  business. 
Leaving  his  carriage  and  attendants  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase,  he 
was  ushered  into  the  Pope’s  apartment,  made  himself  sure  that  they 
should  not  be  overheard  or  interrupted,  and  seated  himself  at  the 
Pope’s  table,  perusing  various  papers  as  if  deeply  engaged  in  State 
business,  the  Pope  meanwhile  changing  his  dress  in  a neighboring 
room.  The  Cavalier  Filippani,  his  old  and  faithful  valet,  who  had 


234 


How  the  Flight  was  Planned.  235 

followed  him  from  Imola,  aided  in  changing  his  apparel.  The  pon- 
tifical white  cassock  was  laid  aside,  and  the  short  cassock  or  capoche 
of  a simple  priest  was  put  on ; and  the  blessed  sacrament  was  taken 
from  the  private  oratory  in  the  little  pyx,  or  silver-gilt  box,  used 
by  Pius  VI.  during  the  whole  period  of  his  forced  fiight  from  Eome 
and  his  captivity.  It  had  been  restored  to  the  Ninth  Pius  by 
the  bishop  of  Valence  but  two  days  before,  and  now  with  its  pre- 
cious contents  was  placed  near  the  heart  of  this  other  fugitive,  as 
a pledge  of  His  present  protection  who  watches  over  the  Church 
and  her  pontiff.  Over  the  cassock  Filippani  made  his  master  put  on 
a dark  great-coat,  and  a broad  woolen  neckcloth  outside  his  Eoman 
collar ; a low-crowned  hat  completed  this  disguise. 

It  was  rapidly  done.  The  Pope  then  returned  to  D’Harcourt,  who 
threw  himself  on  his  knees  with  unfeigned  emotion,  and  kissing 
again  and  again  the  hand  extended  in  blessing  and  farewell,  the 
true-hearted  Frenchman  said,  Go,  Holy  Father ; God  in  his  wis- 
dom inspires  this  step,  and  in  his  power  he  will  bring  it  to  a happy 
issue.” 

Filippani  wore  his  usual  loose  cloak,  beneath  which  he  concealed 
in  a bundle  the  Pope’s  three-cornered  hat  and  embroidered  slippers, 
some  secret  and  most  valuable  papers,  the  papal  seals  and  breviary. 
He  led  the  fugitive  by  a private  passage  terminating  at  a little  door 
in  a very  obscure  corner  of  the  court-yard,  before  which  a hack  was 
stationed.  On  reaching  this  door,  seldom  or  never  opened,  they  found 
the  key  had  been  forgotten,  and  Filippani  hastened  back  to  the  Pope’s 
apartments  to  get  it.  D’Harcourt  was  startled  and  almost  frightened 
by  his  apparition.  But  the  key  was  soon  found,  and  Filippani  fiew 
with  it  to  the  end  of  the  little  corridor,  where  the  Pope  was  on  his 
knees  wrapt  in  adoration  of  the  treasure  which  he  bore  with  him. 
There  was  no  little  difficulty  in  opening  the  door  : ^^the  wards  of  the 
lock  were  rusty,  and  the  key  turned  with  difficulty.”  As  they  were 
about  entering  the  coach  the  other  trusty  servant,  who  stood  by  the 
door,  knelt  according  to  custom,  but  rose  to  his  feet  at  Filippani’s 
sharp  and  whispered  reprimand.  Fortunately  the  place  and  the 
whole  group  were  shrouded  in 'darkness,  and  the  numerous  spies  and 
sentries  posted  around  had  not  observed  the  incident.  Filippani  from 
the  interior  of  the  coach  directed  the  driver  by  out-of-the-way  and 
unfrequented  streets,  till  they  had  passed  the  lofty  ruins  of  the  Coli- 
seum, and  near  St.  J ohn  Lateran,  in  the  shadow  of  the  strange-look- 
ing  little  church  of  SS.  Pietro  e Marcellino,  found  Count  Spaur  with 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


236 

his  chasseur,  both  armed  to  the  teeth,  and  waiting  impatiently  for  the 
appearance  of  the  august  pilgrim.  Many  delays  had  occurred ; and 
they  had  found  it  prudent  to  leave  the  hack  behind  at  the  entrance 
to  the  Via  Labicana,  and  to  hasten  on  foot  to  the  place  of  meeting. 

The  Pope  after  a few  words  of  greeting  entered  the  carriage  and 
bade  farewell  to  Filippani,  now  overcome  by  the  parting ; and  .away 
they  drove.  Count  Spaur  exhibiting  at  the  neighboring  gate  of  San 
Giovanni,  the  passport  of  the  Bavarian  minister  going  to  Naples. 

There  had  been  some  miscalculation  about  time,  or,  rather,  it  was 
found  impossible  to  act  according  to  predetermined  arrangements. 
Countess  Spaur  was  to  be  at  Albano  from  early  morning  on  the  24th 
and  to  have  a post-chaise  in  readiness  there,  the  count  promising  to 
meet  her  punctually  at  three  o’clock  of  the  afternoon.  We  have 
seen  that  circumstances  upset  this  arrangement.  The  Quirinal  was 
so  strictly  guarded  that  they  could  not  think  of  attempting  to  have 
the  Pope  leave  by  daylight. 

The  poor  lady  meanwhile  suffered  unutterable  agony. 

‘^We,  who  had  been  at  Albano  since  morning,”  she  says  in  her 
relation,  passed  our  time  in  torture.  Isay  ‘we,’  because  I was 
with  my  son  and  his  tutor.  Father  Liebel.  My  soul  had  never  been 
haunted  by  such  frightful  fancies.  My  poor  boy,  seeing  me  in  a state 
that  must  have  moved  even  strangers  to  pity,  would  come  every  now 
and  then  to  ask  me  what  was  the  cause  of  my  affliction,  urging  me 
to  tell  him  what  it  was  that  troubled  me  so  deeply.  Of  course  I 
could  not  allow  a single  word  to  fall  from  my  lips  that  could  betray 
the  secret  I had  pledged  myself  to  keep  ; thus  I had  to  dissemble 
with  my  son  as  I had  with  my  dear  father  (in  Eome).  At  length 
Max,  who  had  gone  into  the  church  of  Madonna  della  Stella  to  pray 
for  his  father  and  me,  came  back  to  me,  beseeching  me  wuth  tears  in 
his  eyes,  to  tell  him  what  danger  threatened  his  father  and  caused 
me  such  intolerable  agony.  I told  him  that  the  count  had  consented 
to  take  with  him  out  of  Rome  a great  personage,  and  that  if  he 
should  fail  in  his  purpose  he  would  be  very  seriously  compromised. 
I added,  that  I had  known  no  rest,  and  could  enjoy  none,  till  I saw 
them  both  safe  and  sound.  I concluded  by  exhorting  him  as  well  as 
his  tutor — who,  from  my  expressions,  had  concluded  that  I meant  the 
Cardinal  Secretary  of  State — to  manifest  no  surprise  when  they  recog- 
nized the  fugitive,  and  to  be  careful  to  show  no  curiosity  before  him.* 


* Countess  de  Spaur,  RUation  du  voyage  de  Pie  IX.  d Qaete,  Paris,  1852. 


The  Popes  Escape  : U Harcouri s Agony, 


237 


At  nine  o’clock  at  niglit,  in  the  beautiful  avenue  of  Ilexes,  called 
Galleria  di  Sotto  (Lower  Avenue),  leading  from  Albano  to  Castel 
Gandolfo,  and  where  the  lady  had  been  waiting  since  morning,  some 
one  came  to  inform  her  that  the  count  was  expecting  her  at  Lariccia, 
about  a mile  beyond  Albano.  It  was  very  dark,  and  there  were  no 
lights  in  the  carriage,  in  order  to  prevent  the  fugitive  from  being 
recognized.  At  Lariccia,  the  countess  was  starth.  I to  see  her  hus- 
band surrounded  by  military  guards  {gendarmes) , and  behind  him 
a man  in  black  leaning  against  the  palisade  by  the  roadside.  She 
immediately  addressed  to  the  latter  the  words  agreed  upon  ; ‘‘Doc- 
tor, come  into  my  carriage,  come  quickly  ! You  have  kept  me  wait- 
ing too  long  in  the  night  air.”  One  of  the  guards  then  opened  the 
carriage  door,  let  down  the  steps,  and  helped  the  doctor  in,  closing 
the  door, after  him,  bidding  all  a pleasant  journey,  and  assuring  them 
that  the  road  was  perfectly  safe. 

The  Pope  sat  beside  the  countess.  Max  and  his  tutor  occupying 
the  front  seat ; the  count  and  his  chasseur  jumped  into  the  box  be- 
hind, and  the  chamber-maid  sat  with  the  driver.  02  the  horses 
dashed  at  full  speed,  making  the  most  of  the  precious  hours  of  dark- 
ness. 

For  two  mortal  hours  the  Duke  d’Harcourt  remained  alone  in  the 
Pope’s  apartment  at  the  Quirinal,  using  every  device  to  kill  time, 
and  allow  the  fugitives  to  get  beyond  danger.  As  he  rose  to  leave,  a 
prelate  entered  with  a large  mail  and  important  papers  to  submit 
to  his  Holiness,  then  the  private  chaplain  came  to  read  the  Breviary 
office  with  his  master,  and,  hnally,  the  Pope’s  simple  supper  was 
brought  in.  It  was  announced  to  the  officer  of  the  guard  of  honor 
that  his  Holiness  had  retired  for  the  night,  the  guard  thereupon  was 
withdrawn,  and  all  should  have  been  ended  without  mishap,  when 
some  one  of  the  domestic  prelates  not  finding  the  Pope  in  his  apart- 
ments, came  rushing  in  exclaiming,  “ The  Pope  has  gone  ! the  Pope 
has  gone  ! ” Prince  Gabrielli,  who  was  in  the  secret,  and  was  pre- 
sent to  give  countenance  to  the  other  actors  in  the  plot,  clapped  his 
hand  on  the  fool’s  mouth,  saying  in  a whisper,  “ Yot  a word,  mon- 
signor, or  we  shall  all  be  murdered  ! ” 

D’Harcourt,  on  leaving  the  palace,  took  the  road  to  Civita  Vec- 
chia. 

As  the  post-chaise  containing  the  Pope  and  his  companions  sped 
along  the  line  of  the  old  Appian  Way,  and  across  the  Pontine 
Marshes  over  the  admirable  road  constructed  by  Pius  VI.  before  the 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX, 


238 

French  republicans  with  Bonaparte  came  to  arrest  the  improve- 
ments planned  by  pontifical  generosity,  how  many  sad  thoughts 
must  have  come  up  unbidden  in  the  soul  of  this  other  Pius,  who  had 
also  formed  so  many  magnificent  plans  for  the  material  and  social 
welfare  of  his  people  and  of  all  Italy  ? These  same  marshes,  which 
all  the  patriotic  genius  of  the  ancient  republic  had  in  vain  tried  to 
drain,  which  had  bafiied  the  efforts  of  the  mightiest  and  most  en- 
lightened emperors,  and  defied  the  labors  of  the  Gothic  kings  of 
Italy,  as  well  as  those  of  many  a Pope,  are  still  held  up  by  ignorant 
or  malevolent  writers  as  one  of  the  results  of  priestly  rule  in  Eome  ! 
Just  as  if  the  Mauvaises  Terres  of  Nebraska,  the  soda  plains  along 
the  Central  Pacific  Railway,  or  the  arid  Colorado  desert,  were  to  be 
imputed  to  the  Federal  administration  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  re- 
publican misrule  ! But  Pius  IX.,  a fugitive  across  these  pestilential 
plains,  did,  nevertheless,  think  how  best  he  might  continue  the  work 
of  improvement,  should  Providence  ever  restore  him  to  Rome. 
What  he  attempted  and  executed  in  pursuance  of  this  resolve  shall 
be  told  in  its  place. 

The  generous  fugitive  had  but  little  thought  of  personal  comfort 
during  that  long  night.  The  countess,  whose  nerves  and  courage 
had  been  sorely  tried  by  the  terrible  events  of  the  preceding  week, 
and  especially  by  those  of  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  was  no  sooner 
at  a safe  distance  from  the  guards  than  she  gave  way  to  an  uncon- 
trollable fit  of  weeping.  Her  veneration  for  the  august  head  of  the 
Church,  whose  many  noble  qualities  she  had  nearly  observed,  led  her 
to  contrast  his  present  helpless  plight  with  what  Catholic  hearts 
would  make  him,  and  she  burst  forth  into  expressions  of  bitter  grief. 
The  good  Pope  consoled  her  with  kind  words  and  reflections,  inspired 
by  his  trust  in  God’s  all-wise  providence,  and  by  the  expression  of 
his  grateful  appreciation  of  all  she  had  done  for  his  safety.  Then 
they  all  recited  together  the  rosaiy — sweet  pra3"ers  to  him  who  is 
father  over  all  the  children  of  men,  and  to  whom  Christ’s  vicar  on 
earth  lifts  his  voice  in  dependence  and  supplication  like  the  lowliest 
in  his  wide  flock,  heart-cries  to  that  loving  mother  who  begat  us  all 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  and  is  never  wearied  beseeching  for  our 
need  the  tender  mercy  of  her  crucified  love — and  then  there  were 
psalms,  breathing  David’s  trust  in  him  who  is  our  rock  and  refuge, 
and  prayers  to  the  angelic  spirits  ever  present  to  watch  over  the  trav- 
eler, the  fugitive,  the  exile,  and  the  persecuted.  And  thus  the  night 
waned,  and  amid  the  darkness  and  the  solitude  a deep  peace  settled 


Reception  of  the  Unknown  at  Gaeta, 


239 


OD  the  wayfarers,  and  sleep  came  uninvited,  but  most  welcome,  to 
refresh  the  weary  spirit  of  the  pontiff. 

By  ten  o’clock  on  the  morning  of  the  25th  they  reached  the  fron- 
tiers of  Naples  at  Fondi ; and  before  noon  they  were  at  the  Mola  di 
Gaeta  (now  called  Formia),  six  miles  from  Gaeta  itself. 

At  about  a mile  from  the  Mola  the  carriage  was  suddenly  stopped 
and  the  door  opened,  when  two  gentlemen,  bareheaded  and  deeply 
moved,  seized  each  a hand  of  the  Holy  Father,  kissing  it  again  and 
again,  and  bedewing  it  with  tears.  They  were  the  Cavalier  Amao, 
secretary  of  the  Spanish  legation,  and  Cardinal  Antonelli.  On  see- 
ing the  latter  the  Pope  was  also  deeply  moved.  ‘‘I  thank  thee,  my 
God!”  he  exclaimed,  ^^for  having  preserved  me  my  dear  Cardinal 
Antonelli  1 ” It  was  a refinion  between  these  two  which  death  alone 
was  to  terminate  1 

On  their  arrival  at  the  Mola  Count  Spaur  started  for  Naples  in  the 
carriage  of  Sehor  Arnao,  bearing  to  the  king  an  autograph  letter 
from  his  Holiness,  and  the  latter  proceeded  without  a moment’s  delay 
to  Gaeta.  The  bishop.  Monsignor  Parisio,  had  been  called  that  very 
morning  to  the  death-bed  of  his  brother,  and  Danielo,  his  very  un- 
amiable  major-duomo  or  steward,  could  not  be  persuaded  to  give  hos- 
pitality to  the  travelers.  Cardinal  Antonelli  vainly  insisted,  saying 
that  the  bishop  would  not  be  pleased  to  have  ^‘his  friends”  treated 
so  inhospitably.  The  other  replied  that  the  bishop  had  left  him  no 
order  about  “his  friends.”  “If  you  knew  who  we  are,”  said  the 
Pope,  “you  would  be  glad  to  give  us  welcome.”  “It  is  precisely 
because  I do  not  know  you,”  said  the  trusty  Danielo,  “that  I cannot 
welcome  you.  Besides,  a bishop’s  house  is  not  a public  inn,”  looking 
at  the  numerous  retinue.  “ Bishop  Parisio  knows  me  perfectly,”  con- 
tinued his  Holiness.  “ That  may  be,”  replied  the  testy  steward,  “ but 
I do  not.”  And  thereupon  he  shut  the  door  in  the  pontiff’s  face. 

They  were  forced  to  go  to  the  nearest  inn,  a shabby  little  place, 
called  the  Giardinetto  (Little  Garden)  from  a flower-plot  before  the 
entrance.  But  their  mishaps  were  not  yet  ended.  While  the  Pope 
was  dictating  a letter  to  Father  Liebel,  Cardinal  Antonelli  and  Arnao 
called  on  the  governor  of  Gaeta,  an  old  Swiss  general  named  Grosse. 
In  taking  Senor  Arnao’s  carriage.  Count  Spaur  had  also  taken  the 
latter’s  passport,  leaving  him  his  own.  Arnao  presented  the  passport 
he  held  to  the  governor,  who,  delighted  to  find  a gentleman  able  to 
speak  his  native  German,  began  to  compliment  both  his  visitors  in 
that  language.  Their  excuses,  however,  did  not  satisfy  the  old  sol- 


240 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


dier.  So  General  Grosse,  taking  tliem  for  Eoman  spies,  dismissed 
them  couiteously,  hut  gave  orders  to  the  inferior  magistrates  to  look 
closely  after  the  new-comers. 

Scarcely  had  they  returned  to  the  Giardinetto,  and  finished  their 
dinner,  when  an  officer  of  the  garrison,  with  a justice  of  the  peace, 
demanded  to  see  the  travelers.  Father  Liebel  thereupon  locked  the 
door  of  the  Pope’s  room  and  put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  while  the 
countess  and  the  gentlemen  present  surrounded  the  two  visitors. 
‘^All  of  us,”  the  lady  relates,  ^‘did  our  best  to  throw  them  ofi  the 
scent.  . . . The  justice  was  about  to  withdraw,  when  the  officer, 

who  had  remained  silent  and  motionless  with  his  hands  on  the  hack 
of  my  chair,  asked  my  permission  to  say  that  there  was  a rumor 
about  the  country  of  our  having  with  us  two  cardinals  in  disguise. 
I replied  that  surely  he  must  have  discovered  in  me  one  of  these  two 
cardinals,  and  that  he  must  now  try  to  find  out  the  other  among  my 
traveling  companions.  . . . This  made  everybody  laugh,  and 

put  an  end  to  the  interview.” 

The  26th  November,  being  Sunday,  all  the  travelers,  the  Pope  ex- 
cepted, went  to  hear  early  mass,  and  while  in  the  church  the  officer 
who  had  visited  them  the  day  before  came  to  tell  Senor  Arnao  that  a 
French  frigate  had  just  arrived  with  the  Duke  d’Harcourt,  who  was 
very  anxious  to  see  the  Bavarian  ambassador.  The  misapprehensions 
of  the  day  before  were  soon  explained,  and  the  governor  insisted 
that  the  countess  and  her  suite  should  breakfast  with  him.  Before 
the  repast  was  ready  a Neapolitan  fleet  was  signaled  in  the  offing, 
and  soon  a frigate  was  in  sight  with  the  royal  standard  at  the  mast- 
head. 

This  arrival  was  the  result  of  Count  Spaur’s  rapid  journey  to 
Naples.  He  reached  that  city  about  eleven  o’clock  at  night,  went 
directly  to  the  residence  of  the  papal  nuncio,  showed  him  the  sealed 
letter  of  which  he  was  the  bearer,  and  which  must  be  forthwith  pre- 
sented to  the  king.  It  was  near  midnight  when  they  drove  up  to 
the  royal  palace ; and  the  nuncio  demanded  immediate  admission 
for  the  Bavarian  ambassador  with  extraordinary  dispatches  for  his 
majesty.  Leaving  the  nuncio  waiting  below  in  his  carriage.  Count 
Spaur  was  introduced  to  the  king.  ‘^Sire,”  said  the  ambassador, 
‘^pardon  me  for  coming  at  such  an  hour;  I am  the  bearer  of  very 
serious  tidings ; your  majesty  will  learn  them  from  this  letter  of  his 
Holiness.” 

The  king  opened  the  letter  and  read : 


King  Ferdhiand  hastens  to  Gaeta, 


241 


Sire  : — The  Eoman  pontiff,  the  yicar  of  Christ,  the  soyereign  of 
the  States  of  the  Church,  has  been  compelled  by  circumstances  to 
leave  his  capital,  that  he  might  not  lower  his  own  dignity  and  avoid 
sanctioning  by  his  silence  the  excesses  perpetrated  in  Home.  • He  is 
at  Gaeta,  but  only  for  a short  time,  as  he  is  unwilling  to  compro- 
mise in  any  way  either  your  majesty  or  the  peace  of  your  peoples.  • 

‘'Count  Spaur  will  have  the  honor  of  presenting  this  letter  to 
your  majesty,  and  will  tell  you,  what  time  will  not  permit  me  to  say, 
concerning  the  place  to  which  the  Pope  has  resolved  to  go  without 
delay. 

“ In  peace  of  mind,  and  with  the  deepest  resignation  to  the  divine 
decrees,  he  sends  to  your  majesty,  to  your  royal  spouse  and  whole 
family,  the  apostolic  benediction.” 

As  the  king  read  this  letter  his  countenance  betrayed  deep  feeling 
and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears.  Count  Spaur,  who  watched  him 
closely,  shared  his  emotion.  “Count,”  said  the  king  at  length, 
“come  back  six  hours  hence,  and  you  shall  have  my  answer.” 

Immediate  orders  were  issued  to  have  two  frigates  ready  at  dawn, 
with  a regiment  of  the  royal  guards  and  a battalion  of  line  infantry ; 
and  at  day-break  the  king  and  queen,  with  the  entire  royal  family, 
the  nuncio,  the  Bavarian  minister,  and  a numerous  retinue,  em- 
barked for  Gaeta. 

It  was  one  o’clock  afternoon  when  the  king  landed  there.  General 
Grosse,  who  had  left  his  breakfast  untasted  advanced  to  meet  the 
sovereign.  “General,”  said  his  majesty,  “where  is  the  Pope?” 
“The  Pope,  sire?  Why,  I presume  he  is  in  Pome,  although  we 
may  expect  him  before  long.”  “ Why,”  said  the  king,  “the  Pope  has 
been  in  Gaeta  these  last  twenty-four  hours,  and  you  know  nothing 
about  it ! ” Arnao,  who  was  close  by,  thereupon  advanced  and  ex- 
plained to  his  majesty  why  they  had  preserved  so  strict  an  incognito, 
telling  him  also  where  the  Pope  was.  Unwilling  to  attract  too 
much  attention  to  his  august  guest,  the  king  bade  Senor  Arnao 
conduct  his  Holiness  quietly  and  through  by-lanes  to  the  royal  pavil- 
ion, where  he  and  the  queen  would  prepare  for  his  reception. 

The  curiosity  Of  the  crowd  was  thus  baffled,  the  Pope  reached  the 
pavilion  in  his  simple  traveling  garb  unnoticed  by  the  passers-by ; 
but  at  the  foot  of  the  staircase  he  found  the  king  and  queen  waiting 
for  him  on  bended  knees,  with  the  entire  royal  family,  weeping, 
every  one  of  them,  to  see  one  so  great  and  so  beloved  but  a short 
time  before  di’iven  forth  an  exile  from  among  his  own. 


242 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX. 


''Here  it  is,”  concludes  the  Countess  Spaur,  ^^that  begins  the 
recital  of  the  numberless  acts  of  true  filial  piety  by  which  King 
Ferdinand  of  Naples  endeavored  to  honor  the  sovereign  pontiff 
during  the  seventeen  months  of  his  voluntary  exile.  One  knows 
not  which  to  admire  and  to  praise  most,  of  the  pious  industry  of  one 
man  striving  to  console  another  and  to  show  him  heartfelt  sympathy, 
or  the  magnificent  hospitality  of  one  sovereign  sparing  no  expense 
to  make  another  sovereign  forget  that  he  is  not  at  home  among  his 
own  people,  or  the  reverence  of  the  sincere  Christian,  who  sees  in 
the  afflictions  of  the  pontiff  the  outrage  done  to  Christ’s  vicar.* 


* JElelation  du  voyage  de  Pie  IX.  d Oa^te,  Paris,  1852. 


CHAPTER  XXL 


The  Bannee  of  Lepai^to  m Gaeta— St.  Pius  Y.  ai^d  Pius  IX. 
— France  to  the  Rescue — Xapoleon  III.’s  Italian  Pol- 
icy Foreshadowed — Xapoleon  III.  abets  Piedmontism — 
Honor  thy  Father  and  thy  Mother” — Spain’s  Initiative 
— Sardinia  stands  Aloof— Contradictions  of  Gioberti — 
Spain  repudiates  Piedmontism — England  for  the  Tem- 
poral Power — Pius  IX.  appoints  a Commission  of  Govern- 
ment— Constitutionalist  Hypocrisy  in  Rome — Radicalism 
STILL  Triumphant — Deputation  to  Gaeta  not  received — 
The  Gathering  of  the  Evil  Powers. 

November-December,  1848. 

IN  the  cathedral  church  of  Gaeta,  behind  the  high  altar,  still 
hangs  the  banner  blessed  by  Pope  Saint  Pius  V.,  and  presented 
by  him  to  Don  John  of  Austria,  who  was  about  to  sail  to  Lepanto  at 
the  head  of  the  combined  forces  of  Rome,  Spain,  Venice,  Genoa,  and 
Malta.  This  was  the  last  crusade  ever  organized  by  papal  Romo 
against  the  Turk,  the  common  enemy  of  Christendom — all-powerful 
then  on  sea  and  land — but  whose  might  was  forever  broken  (October 
7,  1571)  near  that  same  shore  where  the  battle  of  Actium  had  de- 
cided the  fortunes  of  the  world  (September  2,  31  b.  c.). 

Europe  has  well-nigh  forgotten  the  glorious  service  rendered  to 
herself  and  to  civilization  by  the  united  fleets  and  armies  of  Spain 
and  Italy  in  that  memorable  year.  It  was  a Dominican  monk  seated 
in  the  chair  of  Peter — a saint-worthy  son  of  that  Dominick  who 
counts  canonized  saints  by  the  hundred  around  his  throne  in  heaven 
— and  a Spanish  Jesuit,  Saint  Francis  Borgia,  who  stirred  by  their 
eloquence  both  Peninsulas  to  join  hands  in  driving  the  Moslem  from 
the  seas.  The  other  powers  looked  on,  withheld  by  their  miserable 
political  and  religious  dissensions  from  taking  any  share  in  the  glo- 
rious strife,  while  the  Pope,  and  the  two  great  Italian  republics,  the 
illustrious  military  order  that  had  made  the  name  of  Malta  immor- 

243 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


244 

tal,  and  the  great  Catholic  monarchy  of  Spain  fought  together  the 
battle  of  the  Cross  against  the  Crescent.  It  was  to  her  who  is 
mother  of  our  Divine  Head  and  mother  of  the  whole  body,  that  the 
Fifth  Pius  looked  for  victory.  "While  John  of  Austria  was  marshal- 
ing his  forces  at  Messina,  the  holy  Pope  was  unceasing  in  his  own 
prayers  and  private  austerities,  fasting  by  day,  spending  the  whole 
night  in  pleading  with  the  Crucified  and  in  beseeching  his  immacu- 
late mother  to  be  the  advocate  of  the  Christian  people  in  their  dire 
extremity.  Every  church  in  Kome  was  filled  with  suppliants  while 
the  issue  was  still  doubtful,  and  processions  filled  the  streets  morn- 
ing and  evening  singing  the  litanies. 

Pius  V.  had  blessed  the  banner,  bearing  the  image  of  the  Saviour 
between  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul,  and  given  it  to  the  commander- 
in-chief,  with  the  prediction  that  the  Queen  and  Help  of  all  'Chris- 
tians would  make  his  host  victorious.  All  Kome,  on  the  very  day 
and  hour  when  the  Turkish  fieet  was  destroyed,  heard  with  equal 
amazement  and  rapture,  from  the  lips  of  the  Pope,  that  Christ  had 
triumphed  over  Mahomet,  and  that  Italy  and  Europe  were  saved. 

When,  nearly  three  centuries  later,  the  Ninth  Pius  knelt  before 
the  altar,  above  which,  at  Gaeta,  John  of  Austria  hung  up  his  tri- 
umphant banner,  he  bethought  him  that  a worse  foe  than  Islam 
threatened  Italy  and  Spain  and  all  Christian  nations — the  anti-Chris- 
tian spirit  of  European  Radicalism,  whose  army  was  Young  Italy 
and  the  secret  societies  enrolled  beneath  the  banner  of  Mazzini — and 
he  formed  then  and  there  the  project  of  combating  that  new  foe  by 
the  spiritual  arms  he  could  wield  as  pontiff.  From  that  day  forth 
there  was  uninterrupted  warfare  between  Pius  IX.  and  every  form  of 
social  error. 

No  one  attending  solely  or  principally  to  the  long  struggle  which 
he  maintained  against  the  enemies  leagued  to  overthrow  the  tempo- 
ral sovereignty,  which  was  the  guaranty  of  the  absolute  independence 
of  the  Holy  See,  could  seize  the  most  glorious  characteristics  of  hia 
pontificate.  !Most  important  as  was  the  question  of  these  temporali- 
ties, it  was  only  secondary  in  the  mind  of  the  pontiff  and  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  Church,  as  compared  with  the  dangers  to  the  whole 
structure  of  modern  society,  which  he  courageously  set  himseK  to 
denounce  and  ward  off. 

In  this  warfare  against  the  formidable  teachings  of  modem  social- 
ism and  materialism,  he  wished,  first  of  all,  to  kindle  the  personal 
friendship  of  every  one  of  the  faithful  toward  our  divine  Lord  by 


1848-1849  1877. 


245 

reviving  tlie  beautiful  devotion  of  tbe  Sacred  Heart,  and  to  increase 
our  reverence  toward  his  Blessed  Mother,  by  defining  solemnly  the 
received  doctrine  of  her  preservation  from  original  sin.  By  thus 
drawing  every  Christian  heart  closer  to  the  Second  Adam  and  the 
Second  Eve,  the  parents  of  the  true  life,  he  knew  he  would  in  a 
manner  compel  them  to  manifest  their  protection  over  the  human 
family,  while  filling  the  Christian  soul  with  increased  fervor  for  the 
study  of  revealed  truth  and  increased  knowledge  and  love  of  the 
Eevealer. 

The  flight  of  Pius  IX.  to  Gaeta,  no  matter  how  the  historian  may 
consider  the  circumstances  which  led  to  it,  or  appreciate  the  deter- 
mination of  the  pontiff  himself  or  the  motives  of  those  who  coun- 
seled this  step,  served  to  make  the  exile  an  object  of  sympathy  to  the 
entire  civilized  world,  and  an  object  of  tenfold  veneration  to  the  two 
hundred  millions  who  owned  him  to  be  ChrisPs  vicar  on  earth. 

Two  magnificent  quarto  volumes  were  printed  at  Naples  before 
that  exile  was  ended,  containing  a portion  of  the  letters  and  ad- 
dresses sent  from  every  land  to  the  Holy  Father ; they  bore  the 
title  : The  Catholic  Wokld  to  Pius  IX.,  Soyekeigh  PoHTirr,  ih 
Exile  at  Gaeta. 

Twenty-nine  years  later,  the  same  pontiff,  stripped  of  every  ves- 
tige of  his  temporal  sovereignty,  and  barely  allowed  the  freedom  of 
his  own  residence  in  the  Vatican,  will  see  the  elite  of  that  same 
Catholic  world  streaming  to  his  feet  from  every  shore,  as  if  jealous  of 
showing  that  no  political  usurpation,  no  revolution  or  change,  could 
do  aught  but  increase  in  the  hearts  of  the  millions  who  call  him 
father  the  faith  in  his  God-given  authority  and  the  love  due  to  his 
heroic  fortitude. 

These  two  facts  in  the  history  of  the  papacy,  by  a singular  per- 
mission of  providence,  occur  in  the  reign  of  the  same  Pope  : surely, 
happening  as  they  do,  at  the  beginning  of  what  is  manifestly  a new 
social  era,  they  must  throw  a blaze  of  light  on  the  road  traveled 
over  so  far  by  the  successors  of  St.  Peter,  as  well  as  on  that  future 
which  is  evermore  the  child  of  the  past. 

No  sooner  were  the  tidings  borne  to  France  of  the  outrages  com- 
mitted in  Kome  against  the  person  and  authority  of  the  Holy 
Father,  his  flight  to  Gaeta,  and  his  anxiety  to  find  for  the  moment  a 
secure  asylum  in  a Catholic  country,  than  General  Cavaignac,  the 
president  of  the  republic,  wrote  to  his  Holiness  by  an  aid-de-camp, 
expressing  the  deep  sympathy  of  the  French  nation,  assuring  him 


246 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


that  France  be  happy  and  proud”  to  give  him  hospitality, 

which  it  will  render  worthy  of  itself  and  of  your  Holiness,”  affirms 
the  brave  soldier. 

This  was  written  on  December  3d ; on  the  10th  there  were  to  he 
general  elections  for  the  choice  of  a new  president.  There  w^as  a 
memorable  debate  in  the  French  National  Assembly  on  the  urgency 
of  sending  an  expedition  to  Italy  to  restore  the  Holy  Father  and 
protect  his  authority.  Montalembert’s  eloquence,  glowing  with  the 
inspiration  of  a Catholic  heart,  stirred  the  representatives  of  the 
nation  to  do  a deed  of  filial  piety  to  the  common  father.  Louis 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  at  that  moment  a member  of  the  Assembly 
and  a candidate  for  the  presidency,  wishing  to  pander  to  the  anti- 
Christian  passions  of  the  French  Voltairians  and  Eadicals,  abstained 
from  voting  for  the  expedition,  and  published,  on  December  the  2d, 
a letter  in  which  he  styled  it  ^^a  dangerous  military  demonstration.” 
On  the  9 th,  however,  he  found  it  politic  to  change  his  views,  or,  at 
least,  to  persuade  the  Catholic  electors  of  France  that  he  had  done 
BO.  He  wrote  in  the  following  strain  to  the  papal  nuncio  at  Paris  : 

My  Lord  : — I am  unwilling  that  you  should  give  credence  to  the 
rumors  which  aim  at  making  me  the  abettor  of  the  course  of  con- 
duct pursued  at  Eome  by  the  Prince  of  Canino.  For  quite  a long 
time  I had  no  relations  whatever  with  the  eldest  son  of  Lucien 
Bonaparte,  and  I am  heartily  sorry  that  he  cannot  see  how  the 
maintenance  of  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  venerable  head  of  the 
Church  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the  splendor  of  the  Catholic 
religion  as  well  as  with  the  freedom  and  independence  of  Italy.” 

This  sphinx-like  utterance  contributed,  chiefly,  as  some  think, 
but  certainly  in  no  slight  measure,  to  the  success  of  the  writer’s  can- 
vass. It  was  given  to  the  public  on  the  eve  of  the  election,  when 
the  Eadicals  and  Imperialists  had  made  up  their  minds  to  vote  for 
Louis  Napoleon.  It  may  have  lost  him  some  of  their  votes,  but  the 
loss  was  compensated  by  the  accession  of  Catholic  voters  obtained  by 
this  specious  recantation.  There  are  those,  however,  who  are  con- 
vinced that  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  elected  to  the  National 
Assembly  and  to  the  presidency  by  the  powerful  influence  of  Pal- 
merston and  Mazzini,  and  that  Young  Europe  and  Young  Italy 
were  satisfied  to  help  him  to  his  great  uncle’s  place  on  the  throne  of 
France,  on  the  express  condition  that  he  should  forward  the  views 
of  Mazzini  about  a united  Italy  and  the  total  suppression  of  the 
papal  sovereignty. 


Louis  Napoleons  Italian  Policy  Foreshadowed,  247 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  in  repudiating  Canino  the  writer  of  the 
letter  just  quoted  says  not  one  word  of  the  ^‘intimate  connection” 
of  the  Pope’s  temporal  power  with  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual 
supremacy;  he  says  it  is  "^intimately  connected  with  the  splendor 
{eclat)  of  the  Catholic  religion.”  It  contributes  to  its  worldly  and 
external  splendor,  where  kings  and  emperors  rule  the  destinies  of 
nations ; but,  under  the  coming  reign  of  the  democracy  to  be  cre- 
ated by  the  Mazzinian  cohorts,  there  can,  in  his  mind,  be  no  room 
for  a Pope-king.  However,  the  restoration  of  the  Pope  to  his  place 
and  sovereignty  in  Eome  may  be,  in  the  war  against  Austria  already 
determined  on  by  Piedmont  and  Tuscany,  ""intimately  connected 
with  the  freedom  and  independence  of  Italy,”  just  as  his  name  and 
influence  were  powerful  at  the  beginning  of  the  crusade  set  on  foot 
by  Durando  and  Gavazzi,  to  inflame  the  national  enthusiasm. 

There  shall  be  superabundant  proof  given  ere  the  end  of  these 
chapters,  that  Louis  Napoleon  was  always  pledged  to  Mamiani’s 
policy  of  a total  separation  of  the  political  and  the  spiritual  in  the 
Pope’s  authority  and  government. 

The  French  intervention  was  thus  resolved  upon  by  General  Cavai- 
gnac’s  government  against  the  expressed  wish  and  opinion  of  Louis 
Napoleon.  The  expedition  of  3,500  French  troops,  with  M.  de 
Corcelles  as  ambassador  extraordinary,  was  only  a preliminary  to  a 
more  imposing  demonstration  of  force.  The  result  of  the  presiden- 
tial election  prevented  any  effective  aid  from  being  sent  to  the  Pope 
till  late  in  the  following  April,  when  Louis  Napoleon  anticipated  the 
Catholic  powers  by  occupying  Civita  Vecchia  and  marching  a corps 
d’armee  to  Eome.  This  was  a deep  scheme,  intended  to  secure  in 
good  time  the  creation  of  a united  Italy  and  the  complete  annihila- 
tion Ox  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy  See. 

The  Pope  was  made  to  feel  it  while  still  at  Gaeta,  when,  after  the 
surrender  of  Eome  to  the  French,  Louis  Napoleon  wrote,  August 
18th,  1849,  his  famous  letter  to  Colonel  Edouard  Ney,  dispatched 
to  Eome  on  special  business:  ""My dear  Edouard” — the  "nephew 
of  his  uncle,’  said  most  insolently — ""the  republic  of  France  did 
not  send  an  army  to  Eome  to  trample  on  Italian  liberty ; but,  on 
the  contrary,  to  regulate  it,  to  preserve  it  from  its  own  excesses,  and 
to  give  it  a solid  basis,  by  restoring  to  his  throne  the  sovereign  who 
had  put  himself  so  boldly  at  the  head  of  all  useful  reforms.  . . . 

It  is  evidently  desired  to  base  the  return  of  the  Pope  on  proscription 
and  tyranny.  . . . 


248 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


''It  is  thus  I epitomize  the  temporal  goyemment  of  the  Pope: 
General  amnesty ; the  secularization  of  the  administration ; the 
' Code  Napoleon,^  and  a Liberal  government.’^ 

This  simply  meant — and  all  Europe  understood  it  in  that  sense — 
that  French  bayonets  would  replace  Pius  IX.  in  a more  helpless 
and  odious  condition  than  he  was  at  the  time  of  the  murder  of 
Rossi.  He  should  only  return  to  his  people,  on  the  shoulders  of 
foreign  soldiers,  to  grant  them  the  concessions  which  his  own  con- 
science repelled  while  he  was  in  their  midst,  the  constitutional 
head  of  a goyemment  of  progress  organized  by  himself.  It  was  an 
absurdity ! 

General  Rostolan,  to  whom  Xey  brought  the  letter,  with  the  priyate 
instructions  of  the  writer,  refused  to  carry  out  such  odious  orders, 
and  sent  in  his  resignation.  He  was  no  deyout  Catholic,  but  a braye, 
honest,  sensible  soldier.  Louis  Napoleon’s  prime  minister,  Odilon- 
Barrot,  at  one  time  repudiated  the  letter,  at  another,  seemed  to  sub- 
scribe to  its  policy.  The  two  French  enyoys,  De  Eayneyal  and  He 
Corcelles,  declared  that  the  official  publication  of  such  a letter  would 
cause  a general  war — the  Catholic  powers  seeing  in  the  policy  it  ad- 
yocated  a spoliation  of  the  Holy  Father  and  the  annihilation  of  his 
temporal  authority,  which  they  were  determined  to  uphold  by  force 
of  arms. 

Not  one  word  of  Louis  Napoleon’s  eyer  retracted  or  explained 
away  this  obyious  meaning  of  his  letter,  till  the  appearance  of  the 
semi-official  pamphlet  "Napoleon  III.  and  Italy  ” sounded  like  the 
first  trumpet-call  to  war  in  favor  of  a united  Italy  and  the  obliter- 
ation of  the  papal  sovereignty  in  temporal  matters.  The  complete 
interpretation  of  the  imperial  Carbonaro’s  purpose  was  fully  given 
by  the  atrocious  betrayal  of  General  Lamoriciere  and  the  papal  army 
to  the  Sardinians,  the  " September  convention  ” which  culminated 
in  handing  over  the  defenseless  pontiff  to  Victor  Emmanuel,  Sep- 
tember 20th,  1870,  the  whole  consistent  course  of  double-dealing  and 
perfidy  being  crowned  by  a letter  to  Victor  Emmanuel  compliment- 
ing him  on  his  being  in  possession  of  Rome  ! 

The  First  Napoleon  had  sacrilegiously  laid  hands  on  Pius  VIL, 
and  made  his  own  son  king  of  Rome,  when  at  the  very  height  of  his 
power  and  pride.  He  did  not,  he  said,  want  to  have  the  ministers 
of  religion  occupied  in  secular  administration ; and  he  laughed  to 
scorn  the  notion  that  the  Pope’s  excommunication  could  make  the 
muskets  drop  from  the  hands  of  his  invincible  legions.  They  did 


Ho7ior  thy  Father  and  thy  Mother y 


249 


drop,  neyertliGless,  as  all  tlie  world  knows ; and  misfortune  after 
misfortune  befell  the  conqueror,  till,  from  his  death-bed,  at  Saint 
Helena,  he  was  fain  to  sue  for  pardon  and  comfort  from  the  father 
he  had  not  known  how  to  protect  and  to  honor. 

Louis  Napoleon  abetted  and  aided  by  his  dark  policy  every  measure 
by  which  Cavour  wrested  piecemeal  from  the  Holy  Father  every  shred 
of  the  patrimony  of  the  Church.  There  was  not  one  person  in  the 
court  of  the  Tuileries  or  the  court  of  the  Quirinal  who  did  not 
believe,  that  Louis  Napoleon  had  incurred  the  excommunication 
pronounced  by  Pius  IX.  against  his  spoliators.  Nor  did  success 
attend  a single  one  of  the  military  enterprises  planned  by  the 
French  emperor,  from  the  day  he  sent  his  cousin  to  incite  the 
Komagnese  to  revolt,  till  that  other  ‘^September  convention’’  at 
Sedan,  when  100,000  French  soldiers,  with  their  emperor,  laid  down 
their  arms,  and  were  driven  into  exile  before  the  victorious  and  de- 
spised Prussian. 

All  this  is  said  here  in  advance,  to  enable  the  reader  to  grasp  the 
meaning  of  Louis  Napoleon’s  policy  toward  the  Holy  Father.  Nor 
is  this  a new  philosophy  of  history.  It  is  as  old  as  the  world ; 
certainly  as  old  as  the  Church.  She  occupies,  as  has  already  been 
stated,  the  position  of  a mother  in  what  was  once,  and  what  ought 
ever  to  be,  the  Christian  family  of  nations,  just  as  the  Pope,  her 
head,  holds  toward  all  Christian  princes  and  peoples  the  place  of 
father.  The  precept,  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thou 
mayest  live  long  in  the  land,”  is  as  binding  on  peoples  and  their 
rulers  in  their  relation  to  the  Pope  and  the  Church  as  in  the  family 
it  is  binding  on  children,  and  on  the  whole  mass  of  civil  society  with 
respect  to  the  lawful  magistrate.  The  family  where  there  is  neither 
obedience  nor  reverence,  is  the  house  half  undermined  by  the  moun- 
tain torrent ; the  community  or  the  nation  where  honor  and  respect 
are  not  shown  to  legitimate  authority,  is  the  ship  with  a drunken 
and  insubordinate  crew  driving  fast  before  the  gale  on  a lee  shore ; 
and  that  Christendom,  that  family  of  nations  begotten  and  reared  by 
Rome — what  shall  we  say  of  it  here  ? 

Remember  the  Bourbons,  just  one  century  ago  : how  they  reigned 
in  France,  in  Spain,  at  Naples,  and  controlled  by  their  influence 
Portugal  and  Austria : they  conspired  to  oppress  Pope  after  Pope, 
Clement  XIIL,  Clement  XIV.,  Pius  VI.  ; it  was  a glorious  royal 
tree  that  House  of  Bourbon,  overshadowing  the  civilized  world — and 
where  are  they  now  ? They  dishonored  their  father,  they  oppressed 


25o 


Life  of  Pope  Plies  IX. 


their  mother ; and  the  long  life  divinely  promised  has  been  divinely 
and  most  suddenly  withdrawn. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  same  month  of  December,  which  beheld 
the  Pope  a voluntary  exile  at  Gaeta,  and  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte 
seated  in  the  presidential  chair  of  the  French  republic,  there  was 
also  a sudden  change  at  Vienna.  Ferdinand  and  his  counselor,  Met- 
ternich,  had  ever  been  guided  by  the  uncatholic  policy  of  Joseph  11. 
They  had  treated  Gregory  XVI.  and  Pius  IX.  with  anything  but 
filial  reverence  and  honor.  The  earthquake,  slight  as  it  was,  which 
shook  the  throne  of  Ferdinand  and  drove  Metternich  from  power, 
was  a warning.  It  was  so  understood  by  the  young  Emperor  Francis 
Joseph,  and  by  his  enlightened  mother.  And  they  hastened  to  do 
for  the  exile  of  Gaeta  what  Austrian  statesmen  had  not  done  for 
him  during  his  necessary  efforts  toward  internal  reform  ; they  took 
counsel  with  the  other  Catholic  powers,  as  to  how  they  should  re- 
store him  to  his  capital  and  secure  his  authority  there  against  in- 
ternal sedition  and  foreign  intrigues. 

The  initiative  in  this  matter  was  taken  by  Spain : in  a note  ad- 
dressed on  December  the  21st,  to  France,  Austria,  Bavaria,  Sardinia, 
Tuscany,  and  Naples,  she  declared  that  she  had  resolved  to  do  all 
in  her  power  ^^to  restore  the  Holy  Father  to  such  a position  of 
authority  and  independence  as  was  necessary  toward  the  discharge  of 
his  sacred  office.” 

The  courts  of  Berlin  and  St.  Petersburg  were  alike  in  favor  of 
the  restoration  of  the  Holy  Father  and  of  securing  his  government 
against  the  accidents  of  future  revolution,  by  placing  it  under  the 
protection  of  all  the  great  powers.  They  felt — with  a conservative 
instinct  which  was  not  shared  by  more  than  one  Catholic  cabinet 
— that  the  Mazzinian  democracy  were  making  a crucial  experiment 
in  Rome,  and  that  if  their  influence  was  not  effectually  checked 
there,  all  Italy  must  soon  he  in  flames,  while  the  revolutionary  move- 
ment would  surely  propagate  itself  among  their  o^vn  peoples. 

‘^The  affairs  of  Rome,”  are  the  words  of  the  Russian  chancellor 
in  a circular,  cause  the  government  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor 
great  concern ; and  it  were  a serious  error  to  think  that  we  take  a 
less  lively  interest  than  the  other  Catholic  governments  in  the  situ- 
ation in  which  his  Holiness  Pope  Pius  IX.  is  at  present  placed. 
There  can  he  no  room  for  doubting  hut  that  the  Holy  Father  shall 
receive  from  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  a loyal  support  toward  the 
restoration  of  his  temporal  and  spiritual  power,  and  that  the  Russian 


Gioberti  s Contradictory  Policy. 


25i 


government  shall  co-operate  cheerfully  in  all  the  measures  necessary 
to  this  result ; for  it  cherishes  against  the  court  of  Eome  no  senti- 
ment of  religious  animosity  or  rivality.”  * 

Sardinia,  which  had  held  aloof  during  the  Pope’s  bitter  struggle 
with  the  revolutionists  in  Eome  and  throughout  Central  Italy,  was 
now  most  anxious  to  prevent  every  government  not  Italian  from  in- 
terfering in  the  Pope’s  affairs.  The  Sardinian  minister  in  Eome 
did  not  come  forward,  as  we  have  seen,  with  the  rest  of  the  diplo- 
matic body,  to  protect  the  Pope  when  besieged  and  threatened  with 
the  last  violence  in  his  own  palace.  When  the  diplomatic  body  fol- 
lowed, soon  afterward,  the  Holy  Father  to  Gaeta,  Signor  Panto 
remained  in  Eome.  Indeed,  all  through  the  interval  of  the  Pope’s 
absence  from  his  capital,  the  Sardinian  representative  continued  to 
reside  there,  and  to  transact  business  with  the  governments  which 
prevailed  there,  to  the  surprise  and  scandal  of  the  European  courts. 
When  the  Gioberti  cabinet  succeeded,  in  December,  1848,  to  the 
Eevel  ministry,  at  Turin,  the  author  of  the  Gesuita  Moderno  wished 
to  employ  the  influence  and  the  arms  of  Piedmont  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  restoring  the  Pope,  as  the  first  necessary  step  toward  binding 
together  in  one  solid  league  all  the  constitutional  thrones  of  Italy, 
and  sent  to  Gaeta  first,  the  Marquis  of  Montezemolo,  and  Eicardi 
bishop  of  Savona,  and  then,  successively.  Signors  Berghini  and  Mar- 
tini. Just  then,  however,  the  purpose  of  making  war  on  Austria  in 
Upper  Italy  was  uppermost  in  the  Piedmontese  mird,  and  the  de- 
sign of  dwarfing  the  power  of  Naples  was  equally  the  avowed  policy 
of  the  Sardinian  government.  Besides,  Gioberti’s  scheme,  so  far  as  it 
advocated  forbearance  from  hostility  with  Austria,  in  order  to  secure 
the  pontifical  and  the  Tuscan  governments,  was  bitterly  opposed  by 
the  majority  of  his  associates  in  the  ministry  and  by  the  king  him- 
self— a dissentiment  which  forced  Gioberti  to  resign  on  the  21st  of 
February  following. 

It  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that,  in  spite  of  the  semi-con- 
servative and  patriotic  sentiments  expressed  by  the  Piedmontese 
minister  in  his  instructions  to  these  envoys,  they  were  either  re- 
pulsed at  Gaeta  or  very  coldly  received  by  the  new  Secretary  of  State, 
Cardinal  Antonelli,  and  by  his  master.  It  is  no  longer  a secret  that 
the  idea  expressed  in  his  first  glowing  theories  about  a federated 
Italy  under  the  leadership  of  the  Holy  See,  that  he  concealed — as  he 


* Farini,  vol.  iii.,  p.  189 — quoted  in  Rolirbaclier’s  “History  of  tlie  Church.  ” 


252 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


himsnlf  declared  in  his  latest  works — the  design  '^to  establish  in 
Italy  a Piedmontese  hegemony  (or  leadership),  and  in  Europe  the 
moral  supremacy  of  Italy.”  In  his  Rinnovamento  Civile  (T Italia 
(Civil  Kenovation  of  Italy),  published  in  1851,  a year  before  his 
death,  Gioberti  no  longer  affirms  that  the  papacy  is  the  natural  stay 
of  Italian  regeneration,  hut,  on  the  contrary,  declares  that  it  is 
Italy’s  greatest  obstacle. 

Against  such  a man,  his  political  professions,  and  his  envoys, 
Pius  IX.  was,  by  instinct  and  enlightened  conviction,  on  his  guard. 
He  was  the  parent  of  ‘^Piedmontism,”  and  this,  in  active  league 
with  Mazzinian  Kadicalism,  had  determined  on  the  absorption  of 
the  Pope’s  temporal  power. 

Against  this  Piedmontism  also,  involving  as  it  did  the  absorption 
by  the  house  of  Savoy  of  all  the  existing  Italian  sovereignties,  and 
the  total  annihilation — as  we  see  it  since  1870 — of  the  Pope’s  civil 
principality,  Donoso-Cortez  protested  in  the  Spanish  chambers,  con- 
tributing powerfully  to  the  sending  to  Italy  of  a Spanish  force  in 
aid  of  the  Holy  Father. 

Civilized  Europe  cannot,  will  not,  consent  to  see  enthroned,  in 
that  mad  city  of  Eome,  a new  and  strange  dynasty,  begotten  of 
crime.  And  let  no  one  here  say  that  in  this  matter  there  are  two 
separate  questions : one  a temporal  question,  the  other  entirely 
spiritual ; that  the  difficulty  lies  between  the  temporal  sovereign 
and  his  subjects,  that  the  pontiff  has  been  respected  and  still  sub- 
sists. Two  words  on  this  point — just  two  words  shall  suffice  to  make 
us  understand  the  whole  thing. 

“ It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  spiritual  power  of  the  papacy  is  its 
principal  power ; the  temporal  is  but  an  accessory,  but  that  acces- 
sory is  one  that  is  indispensable.  The  Catholic  world  has  a right  to 
insist  upon  it,  that  the  infallible  organ  of  its  belief  shall  be  free  and 
independent.  The  Catholic  world  cannot  know  with  certainty,  as 
it  needs  must  know,  if  that  organ  is  really  free  and  independent, 
unless  it  be  sovereign.  For  he  alone  who  is  sovereign  depends  on  no 
other  power.  Hence  it  is  that  the  question  of  sovereignty,  which  every- 
where else  is  a political  question,  is  in  Rome  a religious  question. 

Constituent  assemblies  may  exist  righfully  elsewhere  ; at  Rome 
they  cannot ; at  Rome  there  can  be  no  constituent  power  outside  of 
and  apart  from  the  constituted  power.  Neither  Rome  herself  nor 
the  Pontifical  States  belong  to  Rome,  or  belong  to  the  Pope ; they 
belong  to  the  Catholic  world.  The  Catholic  world  has  recognized  in 


The  Popey  to  be  Free^  must  be  Sovereign.  253 

the  Pope  the  lawful  possessor  thereof,  in  order  to  his  being  free  and 
independent ; and  the  Pope  may  not  strip  himself  of  this  sovereignty, 
this  independence,”  * 

The  liberal  or  reform  ministry  then  in  power  in  England  did  not 
differ  substantially  in  opinion  from  Donoso-Cortez.  On  July  21, 
1849,  during  the  discussion  in  the  House  of  Lords  about  the  French 
expedition  to  Eome,  Lord  Lansdowne  thus  expressed  himself : 

The  condition  of  the  Pope’s  sovereignty  is  especially  remarkable 
in  this,  that,  so  far  as  his  temporal  power  is  concerned,  he  is  only  a 
sovereign  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  order.  In  his  spiritual  power  he 
enjoys  a sovereignty  without  its  equal  on  earth.  Every  country 
which  has  Eoman  Catholic  subjects  has  an  interest  in  the  condition 
of  the  Eoman  States,  and  should  see  to  it,  that  the  Pope  be  able  to 
exercise  his  authority  independently  of  any  temporal  influence  that 
could  affect  his  spiritual  power.” 

From  Eussia,  from  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  from  Spain  and 
France,  came  the  free  and  frank  expression  of  the  traditional  belief 
of  that  Christendom  created  by  the  Popes,  and  bound  to  watch  with 
a jealous  and  loving  care  over  the  freedom  and  independence  of  that 
great  central  civilizing  authority. 

This  is  what  Piedmontese  statesmen  either  would  not  acknowledge 
or  could  not  understand,  in  their  unchristian  ambition  to  override 
every  most  ancient  and  sacred  right,  that  stood  between  them  and  the 
realization  of  a single  Italian  kingdom  under  their  native  princes. 

It  was  because  while  ^^his  spiritual  sovereignty  was  without  its 
equal  upon  earth,”  and  his  temporal  monarchy  only  ‘^of  the  fourth 
or  fifth  order,”  that  the  Pope  deemed  himself  bound  in  conscience 
to  leave  Eome  when  his  own  experience  and  the  voice  of  the  states- 
men around  him  concurred  in  the  conviction,  that  his  freedom  and 
independence  were  at  an  end.  The  exercise  of  his  spiritual  authority 
could  not  be  held  subject  to  the  sway  of  a sanguinary  and  anti-Chris- 
tian mob,  and  he  fled  to  a spot  where  he  could  be  free  in  governing 
the  Church,  till  such  time  as  Christendom  should  restore  him  to  his 
necessary  independence. 

Consistently  with  these  principles — and  the  whole  of  Pius  IX. ’s 
public  conduct  is  based  on  principle  and  conscience — the  Pope  had  no 
sooner  received  a hospitable  shelter  from  the  king  of  Naples,  than  he 
bethought  him  of  providing  for  the  lawful  government  of  his  States. 


* Eokrbacher,  book  xcii.,  year  1848. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


254 

On  November  the  27th  he  published  the  following  protestation, 
which  he  had  dictated,  in  his  little  room  at  the  Giardinetto,  to  good 
Father  Liebel  on  the  very  day  of  his  arrival  at  Gaeta. 

The  acts  of  violence  accomplished  against  us  during  these  last 
days,  and  the  manifest  intention  of  pei-petrating  further  exeesses, 
. . . have  compelled  us  to  separate  ourselves  for  a time  from 

our  subjects  and  children,  whom  we  have  always  loved  and  do  still 
love. 

Among  the  motives  that  have  forced  us  to  this  separation  (and 
God  knoTvs  painful  it  is  to  our  heart  !)  the  most  important  is,  that  we 
might  enjoy  full  liberty  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  See, 
which  exercise  the  Catholic  Avorld  might  reasonably  presume  to  be 
no  longer  free,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  we  were  placed. 

Bitter  as  the  pain  must  be  which  this  violence  has  caused  us,  its 
bitterness  is  immeasurably  increased  by  the  ingratitude  which  a class 
of  wicked  men  has  incurred  in  the  eyes  of  Eurojoe  and  the  world, 
and  still  more  by  the  guilt  incurred  by  them  before  God,  whose 
wrath,  sooner  or  later,  cannot  fail  to  execute  the  penalties  pro- 
nounced by  his  Church. 

In  this  ingratitude  of  our  own  children  we  confess  the  hand  of 
God,  who  smites  us  and  wills  that  we  should  thereby  expiate  our  own 
sins  and  those  of  our  people.  But,  nevertheless,  we  cannot,  without  a 
violation  of  duty,  refrain  from  protesting  solemnly  before  the  whole 
world  . . . that  we  have  endured  unheard-of  and  most  sacrile- 
gious violence.  . . . We  therefore  declare  that  all  acts  done  in 

consequence  thereof  are  null  and  of  none  legal  force  or  validity. 

These  truthful  utterances  and  these  protestations  have  been 
wrung  from  us  by  the  wickedness  of  men  as  well  as  by  our  con- 
science, which  has  compelled  us,  in- such  circumstances,  to  the  ful- 
fillment of  a duty.  Still,  beneath  the  eye  of  God,  and  while  we  are 
beseeching  him  to  turn  away  his  wrath,  we  trust  we  may  confidently 
begin  our  supplication  by  these  words  of  the  prophet-king  : 0 Lordy 
remember  David,  and  all  his  meelcness  ! 

In  the  meantime  we  do  not  wish  to  leave  the  administration  of 
our  States  without  a head  in  Borne,  and  do,  therefore,  appoint  a 
‘ Commission  of  Government’  composed  of  the  following  persons  : 

Cardinal  Castracane,  Monsignor  Boberto  Boberti,  the  Prince  of 
Roviano,  the  Prince  Barberini,  the  Marquis  Bevilacqua  of  Bologna, 
the  Marquis  Bicci  of  Macerata,  Lieutenant-General  Zucchi. 

^‘In  confiding  to  this  commission  the  temporary  direction  of 


Rome  and  the  Italian  Constituent! 


255 


affairs,  we  recommend  all  onr  subjects  and  children  to,  be  calm  and 
to  preserve  public  order. 

‘‘In  fine,  we  will  and  ordain  that  fervent  prayers  be  daily  offered 
up  for  our  poor  person,  for  the  return  of  peace  to  the  world,  and  in 
particular  to  our  States  and  to  Eome,  where  our  heart  must  always 
be,  no  matter  in  what  part  of  Christ’s  fold  we  may  find  a shelter.” 

On  the  7th  of  December  he  issued  a decree  proroguing  both  of  the 
Roman  chambers.  However,  the  decree  of  November  the  27th  did 
not  reach  Rome  till  December  the  3d.  What  was,  meanwhile,  the 
attitude  of  the  ministry  forced  upon  the  Pope  before  his  fiight,  as 
well  as  the  attitude  of  the  chambers  and  the  leading  politicians 
among  Constitutionalists  and  Republicans  ? 

Mamiani,  who  up  to  this  moment  had  not  formally  accepted 
office,  took  upon  himself,  on  the  25th,  the  duties  of  minister  of 
foreign  affairs,  and  issued  a proclamation  to  the  city  and  provinces 
declaring  that  the  Pope  had  fled  from  Rome,  “carried  away  by  per- 
nicious counsels,”  and  exhorting  all  classes  to  maintain  order. 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies  met  at  noon,  and  Prince  Canino,  in  a 
violent  speech,  denounced  Mamiani’s  plan  for  an  Italian  federation, 
calling  upon  the  ministry  to  proclaim  forthwith  the  “sacrosanct 
(most  holy)  constituent  for  Italy.”  The  deputies,  however — not  one 
of  whom,  on  the  day  of  Rossi’s  assassination,  had  the  courage  to  de- 
nounce the  murderers,  or,  during  the  riotous  proceedings  of  the  16th 
and  17th,  dared  ton'ally  round  the  Holy  Father — now  approved  an 
address  to  the  people,  declaring  their  “cordial  agreement  with  the 
ministry  which  the  Holy  Father  has  placed  in  power,”  and  exhorting 
the  people  “ now  more  than  ever  to  give  signal  proof  of  their  civil 
courage  and  wisdom.”  On  the  26th,  the  upper  chamber  met  and 
issued  a similar  address. 

But  the  flag  borne  to  the  Quirinal  by  the  insurgents  of  the  16th, 
by  the  side  of  the  ministry  to  be  imposed  on  the  sovereign  at  the 
cannon’s  mouth,  contained  .“  the  one  thing  ” which  ministry  and 
chambers  and  people  should  and  must  thenceforth  insist  upon,  “ a 
single  constituent  assembly  for  Italy,”  Constihiente  Italiana.  On 
the  26th  the  upper  house  adopted  by  “a  very  large  majority,”  a 
proposition  for  such  a constituent,  stripped,  in  appearance,  of  some 
of  its  most  odious  features,  but  which  was  “ to  direct  its  labors  to 
the  promotion  of  national  union  and  prosperity,  and,  above  all,  to 
decide  upon  the  means  of  liberating  Italy  from  the  Austrian  yoke.” 

Such  were,  previous  to  the  3d  of  December,  the  acts  of  the  “con- 


256 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Btituted  authorities,”  nominally  so  at  least,  which  the  Holy  Father 
had  left  behind  him.  It  is  clear  that  in  their  sober,  second  sense, 
and  when  not  unmindful  of  what  the  governments  of  Europe  and  the 
Catholic  world  at  large  would  think  of  their  attitude  toward  the 
absent  sovereign,  they,  carrying  out  the  will  of  the  clubs,  did  not 
swerve  from  the  direction  given  to  the  public  passion  by  the  in- 
surrection of  the  16th  of  November.  Not  a word  of  censure  was 
uttered  in  either  chamber  against  the  murderous  violence  done  to 
Pius  IX.,  in  his  own  residence,  both  as  prince  and  as  pontiff. 

What  was  the  governing,  or  rather  the  ruling  power  in  Rome 
behind  ministry  and  chambers  ? ^^The  clubs,”  says  Legge,  became 
the  true  centers  of  power ;”  and  elsewhere,  ‘^In  Rome  there  resided 
a body  called  the  Committee  of  all  the  Clubs  of  Italy,  having  rami- 
fications throughout  the  Peninsula.  Now  that  the  Absolutist  party 
were  disbanded  and  intimidated,  and  the  Constitutionalists  aban- 
doned by  the  Pope  and  hated  by  the  Republicans — not  even  Mamiami 
himself,  who  had  formerly  been  the  idol  of  their  obstreperous  adu- 
lation, having  a place  in  their  confidence — the  committee  of  the 
clubs  had  no  obstacles  to  encounter.” 

When  the  Constitutionalists — that  is,  the  professed  advocates  of 
constitutional  government — could  only  find  such  men  as  Mamiani 
to  represent  their  opinions  and  to  become  acceptable  to  the  clubs, 
both  during  the  Pope’s  presence  in  Rome  and  during  his  absence, 
can  it  be  a matter  of  surprise  if  Pius  IX.  at  Gaeta  should  refuse  to 
trust  to  a government,  in  which  they  could  be  only  a helpless  mi- 
nority, the  administration  of  his  States  or  the  defense  of  his  own 
prerogatives  and  the  rights  of  the  Church  ? 

In  the  face  of  the  facts  above  set  forth — and  they  are  only  a very 
incomplete  account  of  the  real  state  of  things — it  is  not  a little 
startling  to  hear  the  Pope  blamed  for  not  committing  his  whole 
authority  to  the  Mamiani-Galletti-Sterbini  ministry,  and  to  the 
courageous  chambers  which  had  met  on. November  the  16th.  Legge 
quotes  in  support  of  his  fanatical  denunciation  of  the  Holy  Father’s 
‘^treachery,”  as  he  terms  it,  the  following  unblushing  statement  of 
Ranalli  : ‘‘Never  were -a  ministry,  a parliament,  a municipality,  so 
united  in  their  efforts  to  maintain  order  and  save  the  constitution  of 
the  State,  each  body  continuing  to  act  in  the  name  of  the  Pontiff, 
as  if  he  was  still  amongst  .them.”  * 


hegge,  ii  115. 


Deputation  to  Gaeta  not  Received,  2 5/ 

The  very  first  act  performed  by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  on  Sun- 
day evening,  December  the  3d,  after  the  receipt  of  the  Pope’s  pro- 
clamation aunulling  the  appointment  of  the  Mamiani-Galletti  min- 
istry, and  appointing  a Commission  of  Government,”  was  to  set 
the  proclamation  aside,  as  being  an  illegal  act.  The  next  was  to  ap- 
point a deputation  to  wait  upon  the  Pope  ; to  this  the  upper  house 
added  two  members,  and  the  Eoman  municipality  sent  with  them 
the  senator  Prince  Corsini. 

At  the  frontier  the  deputation  was  refused  permission  to  proceed 
to  Gaeta,  and  an  appeal  to  Cardinal  Antonelli  only  obtained  an  ex- 
pression of  regret  that  his  Holiness  was  unable  to  receive  the  gen- 
tlemen sent  to  him. 

Even  according  to  the  bitterly  anti-Catholic  author  who  has  been 
80  frequently  quoted  in  these  pages,  already  passions  were  excited 
which,  had  the  language  and  proceedings  of  the  court  of  Gaeta  been 
of  a conciliatory  nature,  it  would  be  hard  to  reconcile  to  a toleration 
of  the  government,  which  was  justly  regarded  as  the  greatest  obsta- 
cle to  the  realization  of  the  nation’s  hope.” 

Had  the  Pope,  therefore,  accepted  the  invitation  and  stultified 
himself  by  returning  forthwith  to  Pome,  it  is  evident,  from  the  con- 
fession of  the  men  who  censure  him,  that  they  did  not  conceive 
there  was  the  slightest  prospect  of  his  carrying  on  the  farce  of 
a constitutional  government,  ‘Mvhich  was  justly  regarded  as  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  the  nation’s  hope  ” of  a united  Radical  Italy. 

Let  the  enemies  of  the  papacy  prophecy  to  us,  albeit  unwittingly, 
what  would  have  infallibly  been  the  condition  of  Rome  bad  the 
fatherly  heart  of  the  pontiff  yielded  to  this  perfidious  invitation, 
unaccompanied  as  it  was  by  any  allusion  to  the  late  insurrection,  by 
one  word  of  regret  for  the  crimes  committed  or  of  condemnation  of 
the  men  who  had  been  their  instigators  and  abettors. 

^‘Meanwhile,  in  Rome,  the  leaders  of  the  insurgent  party  were 
taldng  measures  to  secure  the  direction  of  the  revolution  which  was 
felt  to  be  imminent.  . . . 

I have  already  referred  to  the  number  of  boisterous  demagogues — 
men  who  had  nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain — who  for  the  last 
two  years  had  been  flocking  to  Rome  from  all  parts  of  the  Peninsula, 
from  Poland,  and  from  France  ; men  such  as  they  who  had  already 
blurred  the  fair  fame  of  the  brave  city  of  Bologna ; men  whose 
lives  are  a mystery,  and  v/hom  the  large  cities  of  Europe  always  dis- 
gorge in  tens  of  thousands  in  times  of  civil  commotion.  Under  the 


2 58  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

pretext  of  finding  employment  for  the  people,  the  agitators  of  the 
clubs  had  constrained  the  government  to  maintain  this  scum  of  the 
populace  on  the  wages  of  the  State.  These  men,  armed  with  hoes, 
might  be  seen  each  morning  prowling  in  numbers  through  the  streets 
toward  the  Sor  di  Quinto,  where  they  had  employment  in  road- 
making. Sterbini,  who,  as  minister  of  public  works,  was  responsible 
for  this  scandalous  tax  upon  the  impoverished  resources  of  the  State, 
held  them  in  safe  subjection  to  himself. 

‘ These  crowds,’  says  Farini,  ‘he  distributed  under  chiefs  whom 
he  could  trust,  so  that  by  his  agency  and  that  of  Ciceruacchio,  the 
school  of  revolt  was  brought  under  discipline  and  thorough  command.’ 

“The  State  derived  small  benefit  from  the  labor  of  these  vaga- 
bonds, who,  after  a pretense  of  work,  spent  the  evening  in  disgrace- 
ful orgies,  and,  inflamed  with  wine,  amused  the  dregs  of  the  popu- 
lace. ...  A favorite  pastime  was  that  of  going  round  at  night 
in  cardinals’  hats,  and  one  of  the  kind  which  the  Pope  uses,  and 
with  much  contumely  and  ribaldry  chucking  them  into  the  Tiber.” 

“Calderari  retained  his  command  of  the  carabineers.  Acursi 
. . . was  at  the  head  of  the  police,  and  was  in  league  with  the 
clubs.  The  civic  guard  . . . sympathized  with  the  sects  and 
was  unreliable  for  the  preservation  of  order  ; . . . every  day  wit- 

nessed an  augmentation  of  the  number  of  the  provincial  population, 
who  were  ready  to  support  the  convulsions  through  which  their  flat- 
terers persuaded  them  they  would  march  to  freedom  and  glory.  . . , 

“At  this  juncture  Garibaldi  arrived  in  Eome,  where  his  reputa- 
tion for  bravery  and  inveterate  hatred  of  ecclesiastical  rule  insured 
him  a hearty  reception.”  Under  this  man  were  enrolled  the  very 
elite  in  rascality  of  the  vagabonds  and  cut-throats  described  above, 
and  called  “Garibaldi’s  Invincibles,  a disreputable  lot ; . . . 

many  of  them  were  idlers,  men  of  vicious  habits,  and  of  more  than 
questionable  antecedents.” 

- “To  Eome  Mazzini  now  betook  himself,  attracted  by  affinities 
which  he  did  not  find  at  Florence.  . . . There  he  witnessed  the 

development  of  his  own  revolutionary  mysticism ; there  he  saw  in 
operation  those  principles  to  the  advocacy,  of  which  his  life  had  been 
devoted  ; the  enthusiasm  of  a people,  promoted  mainly  through  em- 
issaries of  his  own,  now  ripe  for  deeds  of  daring,  and  wanting  only  a 
leader  possessing  their  confidence.”  * 


Legge,  ii.  115, 116,  177,  181. 


Rome  becomes  a Pandemonium. 


259 


What  a pandemonium  Eome  is  doomed  soon  to  be  under  the  united 
influence  of  such  leaders,  acting  upon  masses  of  evil  men  thus  brought 
together  from  far  and  near,  and  prepared  with  such  infernal  skill 
for  the  one  well-deflned  purpose  of  the  arch-conspirator,'  we  could 
easily  fancy,  had  history  not  put  the  sequel  on  record. 

From  that  vision  of  preternatural  wickedness  and  horror  we  may 
turn  to  that  fair  Campanian  shore,  where  the  exiled  pontiff  bewails 
the  anarchy  which  he  cannot  control,  stirs  up  the  governments  of 
Christendom  to  save  Christian  Eome  from  the  impious  rule  of  Gari- 
baldi and  Mazzini,  and  displays  such  marvelous  zeal  and  intelligence 
in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  universal  Church. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Loveliness  and  Classic  Memories  of  Gaeta— Why  Pius  IX. 

WISHED  TO  GO  TO  SPAIN — PASTORAL  CaRES — ELEVATION  OF 
Secular  and  Regular  Clergy — Encyclical  on  Monastic 
Orders — Constitutions  of  St.  Ignatius — What  a Jesuit 
IS  AND  IS  NOT — Encyclical  to  the  Italian  Bishops — 
Admirable  Teachings — Socialism  and  Communism  De- 
nounced— Education  of  the  Young  Clergy — The  far- 
reaching  Voice  of  the  Pontiff — The  Immaculate  Con- 
ception— Misunderstood  by  Protestants — Immaculate- 
ness NO  Divine  Attribute — The  Discussion  of  the  Doc- 
trine Timely. 

WE  must  allow  the  Roman  revolution  to  run  its  headlong 
course,  and  European  diplomacy  to  make  and  unmake 
plans  for  the  restoration  of  the  Holy  Father  to  his  States : after 
having  had  to  witness  such  exhibitions  of  human  wickedness  it  will 
be  most  refreshing  to  see  how  the  supreme  pastor  of  Christ’s  flock 
applied  his  whole  heart  and  soul  to  promote  bhe  best  interests  of 
Christian  truth  and  human  morality. 

When,  on  the  morning  of  November  the  25th,  Pius  IX.  de- 
scended from  the  mountain  village  of  Itri,  along  the  terraced  road 
leading  to  the  bay  of  Gaeta,  he  must  have  been  charmed  with  the 
magniflcence  of  the  prospect  before  him.  The  province  itself  bears 
the  significant  name  of  Terra  di  Lavoro  (^^Land  of  Labor”),  as  if 
its  agricultural  wealth  and  picturesque  beauties  were  all  the  crea- 
tion of  man’s  industry.  In  truth  every  inch  of  the  arable  soil,  on 
the  plains  and  high  up  on  the  mountain  slopes,  has  been  made  to 
yield  its  utmost  to  the  thrift  of  the  husbandman.  Even  where  in- 
accessible crag  and  summit  defy  man’s  approach,  the  teeming  vege- 
tation of  the  South  clothes  the  rock  with  life  and  color.  Though 
born  on  the  fertile  shore  of  the  Adriatic,  and  nursed  amid  the  varied 
riches  of  nature’s  bounty  and  the  added  wealth  of  man’s  unceasing 
aud  intelligent  toil,  though  well  accustomed  in  later  years  to  the 

260 


Loveliness  and  Classic  Memories  of  Gaeta,  261 

lovely  Umbrian  districts,  and  the  exbaustless  fertility  of  the  Lom- 
bard plain  and  the  Eomagna,  Pius  was  unprepared  for  the  splendid 
vision  of  a new  earth  and  a new  heaven  that  opened  out  before  him, 
as  he  turned  from  the  sea-coast  near  Terracina  into  the  elevated 
tracts  around  Pondi,  and  threaded  his  way  from  the  passes  of  the 
Monte  Sant  Andrea,  down  to  Itri,  and  thence  to  the  enchanted 
shore  between  Gaeta  and  Naples.  Just  where  the  road  descends 
through  a wilderness  of  vineyards,  olive  and  orange  groves,  and 
reaches  of  forest  stretching  far  up  the  steep  acclivities,  to  the  foot- 
hills near  the  sea,  halfway  between  Formia  (Mola  di  Gaeta)  and 
Gaeta  itself,  they  pointed  out  to  the  admiring  traveler,  amid  a 
beautiful  vieneyard,  the  spot  where  the  greatest  of  Eoman  orators 
was  ruthlessly  slain  forty-three  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 
The  lovely  bay  of  Gaeta  was  to  Cicero,  as  to  a host  of  Eoman  nobles, 
a center  of  irresistible  attraction,  where  they  had  their  summer  homes 
dotting  the  hilltops  and  slopes  for  many  a mile  above  and  along  the 
shining  beach,  and  the  blue  sea  spreading  far  away  to  the  South, 
with  its  clusters  of  islands  inclosing  in  a semicircle  the  vast  ex- 
panse. 

Nineteen  hundred  years  had  passed  since,  near  that  roadside  along 
which  journeyed  the  fugitive  pontiff,  the  murderous  hands  of  the 
tribunes  Herennius  and  Popilius  Lsenas  shed  the  blood  of  the  last 
defender  of  Eoman  liberty.  Were  those  who  sought  to  bestow  on 
Italy  the  true  freedom  which  is  based  on  respect  for  authority,  a 
conscientious  love  of  law  and  order,  and  the  self-sacrificing  virtues 
begotten  of  religion,  were  they  to  be  forever  hunted  down  like  wild 
beasts  or  denounced  as  criminals  on  that  classic  soil  ? As  Pius  at 
noon-day  rested  for  a moment  at  Formia,  he  could  see,  high  up  on 
the  ridge  rising  abruptly  to  the  north  from  the  water’s  edge,  the 
royal  residence  of  Villa  Caposele,  the  favorite  abode,  it  was  said,  of 
the  great  orator ; the  spot  where  came  to  him,  amid  the  elevating 
influences  of  earth  and  sea  and  sky,  many  of  his  immortal  philoso- 
phical and  oratorical  inspirations.  Even  the  air  of  late  November 
had  scarcely  stripped  of  all  their  glory  these  sunny  slopes,  where,  in 
a few  weeks  more,  lemon  and  orange  and  pomegranate,  the  vine  and 
the  olive,  and  all  the  profusion  of  southern  fruit-trees  and  flower- 
ing shrubs  would  be  bursting  into  bloom.  For  seventeen  months 
Pius  IX.  was  to  rule  the  Christian  world  from  that  shore.  For  as 
he  turned  again  toward  the  lofty  promontory  of  Gaeta,  six  miles  away 
to  the  west,  and  looked  down  from  the  height  beyond  Formia  on  the 


262 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


shining  towers  that  crested  the  summits  ahoTe  the  city,  and  ad- 
mired, beneath  the  bright  afternoon  sun,  the  beautiful  Gaeta,  ho 
little  dreamed  that  his  pilgrimage  should  end  there. 

It  had  been  his  resolve  to  seek  a refuge  in  Spain,  both  because 
he  deemed  the  mass  of  her  people  more  sincerely  attached  to  the 
Church  and  devoted  to  the  Holy  See  than  any  other  in  Europe,  and 
because  he  hoped,  during  his  abode  among  them,  to  bring  about  a 
perfect  reconciliation  between  the  mother-country  and  the  Spanish 
republics  of  America.  His  soul  yearned  to  kindle  in  Spain  the 
bright,  pure  blaze  of  that  Catholic  spirit  that  shone  forth  in  the 
days  of  Columbus  and  the  great  and  good  Isabella.  He  had  hoped, 
when  yet  in  the  first  fervor  of  his  priestly  zeal,  to  give  his  entire 
existence  to  the  Church  of  Spanish  America.  With  how  little 
thought  of  any  ecclesiastical  preferment  or  temporal  honor  did  the 
youthful  priest  leave  Eome  for  the  missions  of  Chili  and  Peru  ! 

He  had  seen  with  his  own  eyes  that  field  of  heroic  apostolic  labor 
where  a Turibio,  a Solano,  a Claver  had  been  the  models  of  all  the 
apostles  in  the  future  : from  the  northernmost  limits  of  Mexico  to 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  the  ancient  missions  were  like  a harvest 
field  into  which  a foreign  enemy  had  rushed  while  the  laborers  were 
bent  over  their  task.  These  had  been  ruthlessly  carried  away,  never 
more  to  return,  and  there  was  the  sickle  still  lying  near  the  uncut 
corn,  and  the  harvest  perishing  because  no  man  was  there  to  gar- 
ner it. 

The  Church  in  the  cities  and  once  populous  districts  was  like  a 
dismantled  fortress,  with  no  watchman  on  her  ruinous  towers,  and 
only  a few  defenseless  wretches  sheltered  in  some  corner  here  and 
there.  All  her  strength,  her  beauty,  the  pomp  of  worship,  and  the 
pride  and  glory  of  saintly  deeds,  had  vanished  like  dreams  of  the 
past. 

Could  he  not  stir  up  by  his  stay  in  Spain,  and  his  own  fervid  ap- 
peals to  the  national  heart,  the  faith  that  drove  back  the  Moor  for 
eight  centuries,  and  the  heroic  piety  that  made  the  down-trodden 
races  of  Mexico  and  Peru  forget  that  their  apostles  were  of  the  blood 
of  Cortez  and  Pizarro  ? In  Spain,  too,  he  would  be  near  France, 
and  near  Portugal.  Oh ! the  rapture  of  making  these  countries, 
once  ‘‘the  Most  Christian  ” and  “the  Most  Faithful,’’  true  to  the 
titles  bestowed  on  them  by  his  predecessors — blooming  afresh  with 
faith’s  plenteous  fruits,  like  the  garden  of  God  in  the  world’s  prime ! 

Such  hopes  and  aspirations  filled  the  soul  of  Pius  IX.,  as  he  trav- 


Pastoral  Cares, 


263 


eled  along  beneatli  the  fortifications  of  Gaeta,  on  tliat  Noyember  af- 
ternoon, and  looked  among  the  shipping  in  the  harbor  for  the  flag 
of  Spain,  on  the  frigate  promised  to  him  and  so  ardently  wished  for. 

Some  things  especially  forced  themselyes  on  the  mind  of  the  su- 
preme pastor,  as  he  meditated  on  how  he  could  best  build  up  what 
had  fallen  down  in  the  house  of  God,  and  restore  the  strength  and 
beauty  and  splendor  of  olden  times  : — the  reformation  of  the  great 
religious  orders  and  the  education  of  a superior  clergy,  and  the 
renoyation  of  piety  toward  the  Incarnate  God  and  his  Immaculate 
Mother.  The  regular  and  secular  clergy  were  the  yisible  armies  of 
the  Lord,  destined  to  uphold  his  cause,  and  bear  his  name  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth ; they  were,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Christian 
people,  the  twin-springs  from  which  the  world  was  to  drink  the 
waters  of  life : what  if  these  springs  were,  like  Jacob’s  well  near 
Sichem,  choked  up  with  the  ruins  of  the  once  oyerhanging  sanctu- 
ary ? or,  like  a fountain  near  a road  long  untrayeled,  all  oyergrown 
with  noxious  weeds  or  impenetrable  brambles,  and  filled  with  loath- 
some and  poisonons  reptiles  ? He,  who  was  the  shepherd  of  the 
whole  flock,  and  answerable  for  eyery  soul  giyen  to  his  care  with  the 
salyation  of  his  own  soul,  would  set  about  cleaning  out  the  spring 
and  deepening  it,  and  building  fair  and  pure  receptacles  for  its 
waters,  and  digging  channels  on  eyery  side,  that  the  healthful  streams 
might  flow  forth  and  irrigate  the  whole  earth. 

Eyen  amid  the  wearying  scenes  and  sore  trials  that  had  come  upon 
his  heart  since  his  eleyation  to  the  pontificate,  like  mighty  billows 
rolling  ceaselessly  on  a stranded  ship  among  the  breakers,  the  thought 
of  eleyating  the  clergy  to  the  full  height  of  their  diyine  mission  was 
earliest  and  uppermost  in  his  mind.  We  say  nothing  here  of  his 
frequent  and  unannounced  yisits  to  religious  houses  and  institutions 
at  hours  when  no  yisitor  was  expected,  and  in  half-disguise,  to  as- 
certain if  religious  discipline  were  sacredly  maintained.  All  Eome 
heard  of  these  warnings  to  the  careless  and  the  indolent.  Then 
came,  in  his  first  encyclical,  as  we  haye  seen,  the  solemn  adjuration 
to  the  bishops  to  choose  carefully  all  candidates  for  the  priesthood, 
to  educate  them  thoroughly,  and  to  keep  them  up  to  the  ley  el  of 
their  profession  and  duties.  But  the  task  of  thoroughly  renoyating 
and  perfecting  that  select  body  called  the  regular  clergy,  demanded 
special  labor  from  the  great  high-priest. 

On  June  the  7th,  1847,  he  issued  a circular  letter  to  all  the  heads 
of  religious  bodies,  exhorting  them  to  use  eyery  effort  toward  a thor- 


264 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


ough  rcnoTation  of  their  subjects.  At  the  same  time  he  institutckl  a 
congregation  or  committee  of  cardinals,  with  assessors  and  council- 
ors, '^on  the  condition  of  the  regular  clergy.”  This  committee  set 
1 0 work  without  a moments  delay,  and  published,  with  the  sanction 
of  his  Holiness,  an  ordinance  regulating  the  selection  of  novices, 
their  training  in  the  novitiate,  and  the  manner  of  admitting  them 
to  their  religious  profession.  It  is  a most  admirable  document,  re- 
plete with  that  spiritual  wisdom  which  never  fails  the  Church  and  her 
chief  ministers  in  all  the  measures  pertaining  to  the  general  welfare. 

The  Pope  in  his  own  letter  speaks  of  the  religious  orders  as  these 

pious  families  . . . originated  through  an  inspiration  of  the 

Divine  Spirit,  by  men  eminent  in  holiness  and  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls  ; confirmed  by 
the  Apostolic  See,  and  composing,  in  their  manifold  array,  a mag- 
nificent society  which  reflects  such  splendor  on  the  Church  ; select 
bodies  of  auxiliary  troops  in  the  service  of  Christ,  an  ornament  and 
a stay  both  to  religion  and  the  civil  community. 

Their  calling,  due  to  a singular  grace  of  God,  is  to  aim  at  prac- 
ticing the  counsels  of  evangelical  wisdom,  ^ counting  all  things  to  be 
but  loss,  for  the  excellent  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,’  looking  down 
from  their  divine  station  and  with  an  unmoved  heart  on  all  earthly 
things.  . . . 

From  their  first  establishment  .they  became  illustrious  by  pro- 
ducing many  men  eminent  as  well  from  the  universality  of  their  ser- 
vice as  from  their  extensive  learning,  their  shining  virtues,  their 
splendid  sanctity,  and  the  dignity  conferred  by  them  on  the  highest 
offices  in  Church  and  State ; men  inflamed  with  love  for  God  and 
the  neighbor,  made  a spectacle  to  the  world,  to  angels  and  to  men  ; 
who  made  their  sole  delight  to  consist  in  spending  their  days  and 
nights  in  the  meditation  and  deep  study  of  divine  things,  in  bearing 
about  in  their  bodies  the  mortification  of  Christ,  in  spreading  from 
the  rising  to  the  setting  sun  the  Catholic  faith  and  doctrine ; in 
joyously  enduring  for  that  faith  eveiy  form  of  suffering,  torture, 
and  death ; in  bringing  back  uncivilized  and  savage  peoples  from 
darkness  to  the  Gospel  light ; ...  in  cultivating,  protecting, 
and  saving  from  decadence  literature,  science,  and  art ; in  forming 
from  childhood  upwards  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  young  to  piety 
and  godly  living,  and  feeding  them  with  sound  doctrine  ; in  fine,  in 
bringing  into  the  paths  of  salvation  all  who  had  strayed  away.” 

And  in  this  magnificent  strain  the  pontiff  pursues  the  good  works 


Encyclical  on  Monastic  Orders. 


265 


accomplislied  by  the  religious  orders,  recites  tbe  praises  bestowed  on 
them  by  the  ancient  fathers  of  the  Church,  and  the  sovereign  pon- 
tiffs in  every  age,  as  well  as  the  extreme  watchfulness  exercised  to 
prevent  disorder  or  decay  from  creeping  into  these  institutions. 

He  is  much  consoled  to  see  such  a multitude  of  men  and  women 
belonging  to  these  great  religious  families  faithful  to  their  calling 
and  equal  to  the  work  of  edification  set  before  them.  But  he  is  also 
saddened  by  the  knowledge  that  there  are  many  ‘^who  retain  no- 
thing but  the  outward  show  of  piety.” 

He  appeals  to  all  superiors  to  aid  him  in  carrying  to  a happy 
issue  the  labor  necessary  toward  restoring  to  their  respective  societies 
a robust  and  flourishing  health  in  order  ^Ho  be  able  to  draw  from 
them  skillful  and  experienced  laborers  in  the  good  cause,  as  eminent 
for  their  piety  as  for  their  prudence,  accomplished  men  of  God 
trained  to  all  manner  of  good  works.  . . .” 

See  to  it,”  he  says  to  those  in  oifice,  with  a vigilance  that  never 
pauses  nor  slumbers,  that  your  inferiors  walk  in  the  footsteps  of  their 
glorious  ancestry,  careful  to  observe  religious  discipline,  avoiding  all 
worldly  pleasures,  spectacles,  and  pursuits,  all  of  which  they  have 
forsworn,  and  that  they  do  apply  themselves  unceasingly  to  prayer, 
to  the  meditation  of  heavenly  things,  to  acquiring  knowledge  use- 
ful to  their  own  souls  and  helpful  to  those  of  others,  according 
to  your  respective  rules  ; . . . that  they  may  appear  to  God’s 

people  as  men  modest,  humble,  gentle,  patient,  upright,  blameless 
in  their  lives,  endowed  with  a burning  charity  and  a wisdom  which 
may  win  general  esteem,  giving  no  subject  of  offense  to  any  man, 
but  to  all  the  example  of  a holy  life,  compelling  their  very  enemies 
to  esteem  them,  and  to  feel  surprised  that  they  can  find  in  them 
nothing  blameworthy.” 

Then  follow  the  various  purposes  for  which  the  Congregation  on 
Beligious  Orders  has  been  just  established  and  is  at  work.  The  Holy 
Father  concludes  by  reminding  all  that  his  admonitions  and  endeavors 
are  alike  inspired  by  the  tender  affection  which  he  bears  them ; 
wishing  in  all  that  he  says  and  does  secure  their  existence,  their 
usefulness,  their  dignity,  and  honor.” 

The  ordinance,  published  in  February,  1848,  applies  nominally  to 
the  religious  orders  in  Italy  and  the  adjacent  isles ; ” but  it  was 
extended  to  the  whole  of  Christendom,  and  was  meant  to  modify 
very  profoundly  the  rules  of  all  the  existing  great  orders,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Indeed,  it  is  a phenomenon  re- 


266 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


dounding  not  a little  to  the  glory  of  the  constitutions  of  St.  Ignatius 
Loyola,  and  to  the  fidelity  of  his  well-tried  sons,  that  they  were  not 
considered  to  have  degenerated  from  the  spirit  of  their  founder,  and 
that  his  constitutions  were  found  so  efficacious  to  maintain  in  their 
pristine  vigor  both  discipline  and  fervor  in  the  pursuit  of  religious 
perfection,  that  on  them  were  modeled  the  changes  made  in  the  other 
orders. 

From  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  several  of  their  former  colonies  be- 
yond the  seas,  every  one  of  the  ancient  monastic  establishments  had 
been  swept  away.  They  could  never  live  again  in  these  countries, 
save  as  purified  and  renovated  by  suffering.  The  sovereign  pontiff 
and  the  congregation  created  to  assist  him  in  this  delicate  labor, 
aimed  at  making  the  remnants  of  the  suppressed  orders  so  vigorous 
and  so  well  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  modem  society,  that  they 
should  withstand  the  corruptions  of  peace  and  prosperity,  as  well  as 
the  keenest  trials  of  persecution.  It  was  also  plain  to  the  foreseeing 
eye  of  the  Holy  Father,  that  the  revolution  about  to  sweep  over  Italy 
would  carry  away  the  monastic  houses,  throw — as  in  Spain  and 
Portugal — their  inmates  helpless  on  a world  without  pity,  and  leave 
none  of  the  religious  orders  in  request  but  such  as  were  devoted  to 
education  and  charity. 

The  constitutions  of  St.  Ignatius  seemed  to  have  been  framed  with 
a sagacity  so  preternatural,  that  their  provisions  and  the  rules  subse- 
quently added  to  complete  them,  were  as  much  fitted  for  the  needs 
of  modern  life  as  for  the  society  of  the  sixteenth  century  : they  train 
and  mold  and  preserve  the  apostolic  laborer  amid  the  ancient  civil- 
izations of  Japan  and  China  and  India,  as  among  the  Guaranis  of 
Paraguay,  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois  of  Horth  America,  the ‘savages 
of  Central  Africa,  the  Arab  tribes  of  Syria,  or  the  mountaineers  of 
Kabylia.  They  complete  a man  for  the  missionary  work  of  Paris  or 
Berlin,  of  London  or  New  York;  and  the  more  they  are  studied 
by  the  moralist,  the  statesman,  the  historian,  or  the  canonist,  the 
more  it  becomes  evident  that  they  were  framed  for  all  time,  and  for 
all  phases  of  Christian  civilization  and  civil  polity.  They  are  the 
masterpiece  of  human  wisdom,  if,  indeed,  it  be  not  well  proven  that 
their  author  drew  his  light  from  a superhuman  source. 

So  long  as  the  Jesuit  is  true  to  his  training,  true  to  the  unearthly 
heroism  which  is  the  aim  of  every  rule  and  maxim  in  the  divine 
code  of  his  Institute,  he  must  be  St.  Francis  Xavier  over  again — in 
all  things  seeking  only  ^‘to  know  clearly  the  divine  will  and  pleasure, 


Constitutions  of  St.  Ignathcs. 


267 


and  asliing  for  strength  to  accomplish  it  perfectly.*’  That  such  men, 
wherever  they  are,  shall  be  supremely  odious  to  the  modern  natural- 
ist, revolutionist,  and  Mazzinian,  is  inevitable  ; it  is  their  lot,  their 
glory.  That,  wherever  they  are  known  to  the  Catholic  heart,  to  the 
unprejudiced  Christian  mind,  they  should  be  loved  instinctively  and 
followed  as  safe  guides  in  the  road  of  Christian  perfection,  is  equally 
inevitable. 

St.  Ignatius  chose,  among  the  constitutions  given  by  monastic 
founders  to  the  religious  families  gathered  around  them,  all  the 
features  that  he  deemed  most  admirable  and  most  suitable  to  his 
own  purpose,  and  incorporated  them  with  those  which  he  was  com- 
manded by  the  Pope  to  draw  up.  There  is  not  a line  or  an  expres- 
sion in  them,  from  first  to  last,  that  did  not  cost  him  hours  of 
humble  and  tearful  prayer,  and  protracted  supplication  for  light 
from  on  high.  Why  wonder,  then,  if  the  true  member  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  Jesus  reproduces  in  his  life  the  virtues  and  qualities  which 
adorn  the  religious  orders  preceding  St.  Ignatius 

The  outcry  raised  against  the  Society  of  Jesus,  as  against  the  dis- 
turbers of  States,  is  wholly  unfounded,  and,  therefore,  most  iniquit- 
ous. The  Jesuit  is  not  only  forbidden,  under  the  severest  penalties 
known  to  the  canon  law,  to  take  any  part,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
the  management  of  State  affairs,  but  the  spirit  of  his  Institute  is 
so  adverse  to  political  and  ecclesiastical  ambition  of  every  sort,  so 
opposed  to  every  tendency  to  meddle  in  politics  or  in  church  govern- 
ment, that  a special  vow  binds  every  one  of  its  professed  members  to 
prevent  such  meddling  by  every  means  in  his  power.  This  vow — 
the  form  being  written  out  in  duplicate  and  subscribed  by  the  pro- 
fessed himself — obliges  him  never  to  aspire,  in  any  manner  what- 
ever, to  any  dignity  in  Church  or  State  or  within  his  own  society, 
and  to  denounce  to  the  superiors  thereof  any  one  of  his  brethren 
whom  he  may  know  to  be  so  aspiring  or  intriguing. 

Thereby  every  door  is  closed  to  ambition  or  to  fondness  for  med- 
dling in  politics  or  in  Church  matters  beyond  the  sphere  of  the 
individual’s  appointed  duties.  If  there  be  found  among  Jesuits  men 
who  resemble  in  aught  the  dark  plotters  or  ambitious  controllers 
of  statesmen  and  churchmen,  painted  as  Jesuits”  by  novelists, 
Protestants,  and  revolutionists,  such  men  are  as  much  in  opposition 
to  the  spirit,  the  scope,  the  constitutions  and  by-laws  of  their  society, 
as  Judas  and  his  lust  for  gain  were  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  and 
aims  of  his  Master,  Christ. 


268 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Devoted  to  the  Church,  to  tlie  purity  of  her  doctrine,  to  extend- 
ing her  reign  over  the  souls  of  ’all  peoples,  civilized  and  uncivilized  ; 
devoted  in  a special  manner  to  the  defense  of  the  Iloly  See  and  its 
])rerogatives,  the  Jesuits  are  thus  foremost  objects  of  antipathy  and 
attack  to  all  who  hate  and  assail  the  Catholic  Church  and  her 
pontiffs.  They  came  into  being  just  when  Luther  was  arraying 
one-half  of  Europe  against  the  paj^acy ; they  have,  in  the  esteem  of 
all  not  Catholics,  been  from  their  birth  the  most  zealous  and  un- 
compromising champions  of  a losing  cause  ; in  their  own  inmost 
convictions,  they  are  but  the  sworn  servants  of  Christ  and  his  vicar 
on  earth.  It  was  but  natural,  perhaps — certainly  it  was  inevitable 
— that  they  should  be  decried  by  their  adversaries,  that  their  mo- 
tives, their  principles,  teaching,  and  acts  should  be  misconceived 
and  misrepresented.  The  word  ‘^Jesuit’’  has  been  made  hateful  to 
honest  and  fair-minded  Protestants  as  well  by  the  traditional  odium 
attaching  to  old  but  unforgotten  controversies  and  bitter  religious 
struggles,  as  by  the  systematic  and  unblushing  slanders  of  radicals 
and  revolutionists. 

But  it  is  most  natural,  on  the  other  hand,  that  all  true  Catho- 
lics should  love  and  revere  them.  For  they  have  ever  known  them 
— wherever  they  have  been  the  genuine  offspring  of  Loyola  and 
Xavier — to  be  “men  crucified  to  the  world,  and  to  whom  the  world 
itself  is  crucified,*  even  as  their  mode  of  life  demands  it ; new  men, 
who  have  put  off  all  carnal  and  worldly  affections,  and  put  on  Christ 
himself,  being  dead  to  themselves  that  they  might  live  to  Christian 
holiness  ; men  who  (in  the  words  of  Paul)  ^in  labors,  in  watchings, 
in  fastings,  in  chastity,  in  knowledge,  in  long-suffering,  in  sweet- 
ness, in  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  charity  unfeigned,  in  the  word  of  truth,’ 
show  themselves  to  be  God’s  ministers  ; and  ^by  the  armor  of  justice 
on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  by  honor  and  dishonor,  by  evil 
report  and  good  report,’  by  good  and  ill  fortune — in  fine,  strive 
themselves  to  attain  the  heavenly  country  through  great  journey- 
ings,  meanwhile  helping  others  in  what  way  soever  they  may  to 
reach  the  same  goal,  never  losing  sight  in  all  things  of  God’s  great- 
est glory.” 

* The  cross,  in  the  old  Roman  world,  was  an  object  of  incomprehensible 
loathing  and  horror,  being  reserved  as  an  instrument  of  capital  punishment  to 
the  worst  and  vilest  criminals  ; hence,  “ one  crucified  ” was  one  held  accursed 
by  all,  an  object  of  universal  abomination.  The  world  is  thus  an  abomination 
to  the  Christian  ; and  the  Christian  to  the  anti-Christian  world. 


Encyclical  to  the  Italian  Bishops.  269 

The  term  '^Jesuit,”  as  a by-word  of  reproach  and  a synonym  of 
duplicity,  was  affixed  by  Pascal  and  the  Port-Ko3'al  Jansenists  to  all 
true  and  uncompromising  Catholics  in  the  Netherlands,  Germany, 
and  France  ; the  Jansenists,  or  Old  Catholics,”  as  they  styled  them- 
selves, kept  up  the  term  as  a nickname  for  all  who  were  obedient  to 
the  Holy  See.  It  became  a ‘‘party  cry”  for  the  French  Voltairians, 
skeptics,  and  revolutionists  in  their  sueeessive  campaigns  against 
Catholicism,  up  to  1848  ; the  word  “Jesuit”  meaning  every  Catholic 
faithful  to  his  Church  and  whose  life  was  consistent  with  his  belief. 
"We  know  what  a fearful  use  was  made  of  the  nickname  in  Switzer- 
land, in  Italy,  in  Germany,  till,  with  the  progress  of  the  leveling 
anti-Christian  spirit,  the  word  “clerical”  has  superseded  it,  and 
come,  in  France,  to  mean  every  man  who  believes  in  Cod  and  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  be  he  Protestant,  Jew,  or  Mohammedan. 

As  the  months  of  1849  passed  bitterly  by  for  the  pontiff  in  his 
court  at  Gaeta,  the  religious  orders,  the  secular  clergy,  and  church 
establishments  of  every  kind  had  to  suffer  from  the  triumphant  re- 
volution in  Central  Italy.  It  was  evident  to  the  mind  of  Pius  IX. , 
even  when  this  forerunner  of  a fiercer  and  wider  storm  had  blown 
over,  that  the  Church  throughout  Italy  must  prepare  for  the  return 
of  the  social  whirlwind. 

Hence,  not  content  with  the  private  admonitions  given  during  the 
year  to  prelates  and  superiors  who  needed  either  consolation,  encour- 
agement, or  reproof,  he  matured  carefully  an  encyclical  or  circular 
letter  to  all  the  bishops  of  Italy,  pointing  out  the  secret  sources  of 
the  manifold  evils  from  which  the  land  was  suffering,  and  renewing 
with  greater  emphasis  and  solemnity  the  instructions  relative  to  the 
reforms  and  improvements  he  deemed  urgent  among  all  ranks  of  the 
clergy. 

• Italy  was  most  dear  to  him,  as  being  the  land  of  his  birth  ; and 
the  Church  of  Italy,  privileged  as  it  was  in  possessing  the  Central 
See  of  the  Christian  world,  should,  he  thought,  be  a model,  and 
shine  with  a surpassing  splendor  in  learning,  holiness,  and  the 
beauty  of  external  discipline.  At  the  distance  of  thirty  years  from 
the  events  which  the  Pope  deplores  in  his  eloquent  letter,  and  from 
the  still  deeper  changes  which  he  seems  to  foresee,  one  cannot  help 
being  moved  by  the  authoritative  and  almost  prophetic  tone  in  which 
the  supreme  pastor  lays  bare  the  sources  of  all  modern  social  error, 
by  his  admirable  refutation,  in  a few  words,  of  the  fallacies  of  so- 
cialism and  communism,  and  the  fervent  appeal  to  the  clergy  of  all 


270 


Life  of  Pope  Pins  IX. 


ranks  to  prepare  tlieir  flocks  against  tke  coming  dangers,  and  to  gird 
on  tlieir  own  armor  of  proof  for  the  inevitable  combat. 

‘'Men  lost  to  the  faith,”  he  writes  from  Portici,  near  Naples,  “the 
enemies  of  truth,  justice,  and  honor,  . . . have  conspired  to 

ruin  the  believing  populations  of  Italy  by  spreading  among  them 
the  unrestrained  liberty  of  thought  and  speech  and  impious  deed. 
. , . Their  satanic  plan  has  been  particularly  unfolded  in  our 

dear  city,  the  seat  of  our  sovereign  pontificate,  whence  they  began 
by  compelling  us  to  flee,  and  then  gave  full  rein  to  all  their  mad- 
ness. . . . 

“Although  Eome  and  her  dependent  provinces  have  been  restored 
to  us  by  the  arms  of  the  Catholic  powers,  . . . these  same  ene- 

mies of  God  and  man  have  not  ceased  their  destroying  labors.  . . . 
The  grievous  circumstances  of  the  present  time  urges  us  to  exhort 
you  more  fervently  than  ever  . . . to  fight  the  good  fight  with 

us,  . . . to  take  with  one  common  accord,  the  steps  necessary 

toward  repairing  the  evil  already  done  in  Italy,  to  forestall  and  ward 
ofl  the  dangers  threatened  in  the  near  future. 

“Among  the  perfidious  moans  employed  by  the  enemies  of  the 
Church  to  render  the  Catholic  religion  hateful  to  Italians,  one  of  the 
most  odious,  is  . . .to  spread  abroad  the  opinion  that  Catholi- 

cism is  an  obstacle  to  the  glory,  the  greatness,  and  the  prosperity  of 
the  Italian  nation  ; and  that  to  restore  to  Italy  its  ancient  splendor, 
its  glory  in  pagan  times,  they  must  silently  insinuate,  propagate,  and 
establish  Protestant  doctrines  and  assemblies.  . . . 

“But  the  Catholic  religion,  far  from  causing  the  Italic  races  the 
temporal  detriment  so  loudly  asserted,  prevented  them,  at  the  down- 
fall of  the  Eoman  empire,  from  sharing  in  the  ruin  that  befell 
Assyria,  Chaldeea,  Media,  Persia,  and  Macedonia.  . . . On  the 

contrary,  it  delivered  Italy  from  the  dark  cloud  of  error  which 
covered  it,  and  amid  the  prevailing  ruin  and  barbarian  desolation, 
. . . it  raised  the  nation  to  a surpassing  height  of  glory  and  great- 

ness, . . . and  placed  in  its  midst  the  See  of  Peter,  the  seat  of  an 
empire  wider  and  more  solid  than  the  old  worldly  Eoman  domination. 

“ The  Catholic  faith  thereby  cast  deeper  roots  in  Italian  soil,  aiul 
became  the  source  of  numberless  and  most  precious  blessings.  . . . 
It  saved  the  Italians  from  the  ancestral  lust  of  domination,  . . . 

leading  to  unceasing  warfare,  . . . and  the  enslavement  of  mil- 
lions of  their  fellow-men  ; . . . impelled  them  mightily  toward 

the  practice  of  justice,  mercy,  piety  to  God,  and  beneficence  to  their 


Admirable  Teachings. 


271 


brethren.  Hence  the  magnificent  basilicas  and  other  monuments 
of  the  Christian  ages  which  coyer  the  land,  the  free  creation  of  a 
charity  oyerflowing  with  life,  not  the  laborious  work  of  enslayed 
multitudes.  . . . 

The  leaders  in  this  crusade  of  eyil,  • . . aim  at  upsetting 

all  human  society,  and  giying  it  up  to  the  criminal  conceptions  of 
socialism  and  communism.  Despairing  to  make  the  Church  their 
accomplice,  . . . they  haye  formed  the  design  of  inducing  the 

Italians  to  embrace  Protestant  opinions  and  frequent  Protestant  as- 
semblies. . . . They  know  well  that  nothing  can  be  more  fayor- 

able  to  their  designs  than  the  cardinal  Protestant  principle  of  priyate 
judgment.  , . . 

^^We  must  preyent  Italy,”  the  HolyPather  continues,  ^Hhe  home 
of  the  central  authority  of  Christendom,  from  becoming  a stumbling- 
block  to  the  nations.  . . . Hor  must  you  or  we  fear — fallen 

though  we  be  on  such  eyil  times — the  wiles  and  yiolence  of  those 
who  conspire  against  the  faith  of  Italy.  . . . Christ  is  our 

counselor  and  our  stay,  without  him  we  can  do  nothing,  with  him, 
eyerything  is  possible. 

We  must  endeayor  by  main  and  might  so  to  instruct  our  people 
in  the  teaching  and  law  of  the  Gospel,  . . . that  the  habit  of 

long  yicious  indulgence  may  not  preyent  them  from  discerning  the 
snares  laid  for  them.  . . . Let  them  be  made  to  liye  up  to  the 

light  of  the  Gospel  truth.  . . . All  who  haye  charge  of  souls 

should  be  filled  with  new  zeal  for  this  purpose,  and,  following  the 
prescriptions  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  imprint  on  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  their  hearers,  by  short  and  simple  instructions,  a knowl- 
edge of  the  yices  that  lead  to  eternal  perdition,  as  well  as  of  the 
virtues  that  conduce  to  salyation. 

‘^More  than  eyer  is  it  needful  to  impress  them  with  the  distinc- 
tiye  necessity  of  the  Catholic  faith.  . . , Prepare  them  with  an 

increase  of  care  for  the  reception  of-  the  sacrament  of  confirmation, 
which  bestows  the  grace  of  strength  and  constancy  in  the  faith, 
. . . and  makes  the  soul  yearn  for  penance  and  the  eucharistic 

bread.  Call  in  to  aid  you  in  stirring  up  the  people  to  a sense  of  their 
duties  to  God,  the  seryices  of  men  skilled  in  giying  the  spiritual  exer- 
cises of  missions.  . . . Suppress  these  public  crimes  which  draw 

down  the  diyine  anger : blasphemy,  . . . concubinage,  . . . 

the  violation  of  the  repose  of  the  Lord’s  day,  . • • the  contempt 
of  the  law  of  abstinence.  . . . 


272 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


‘‘Among  the  snares  laid  by  the  evil-minded  for  our  people,  are 
the  abuses  of  a licentious  press,  scattering  among  them  defamatory 
pamphlets,  impious  books,  and  daily  sheets  filled  with  falsehood, 
calumnies,  and  seductive  tales.  To  these  may  be  added  the  circu- 
lation of  translations  of  the  Scripture,  made  without  authority  or 
proper  control,  aiming  at  bringing  into  contempt  both  the  word  of 
God  and  the  sole  authority  established  for  its  guardianship. 

“Counteract  these  by  the  publication  of  approved  translations, 
and  a literature  that  can  foster  sound  doctrine  and  pure  moral- 
ity  

“Inculcate  filial  love  and  reverence  toward  the  See  of  Peter, 
whose  dignity  is  never  annihilated  by  the  unworthiness  of  his  suc- 
cessors. . . . Ho  one  can  rebel  against  the  Catholic  faith 

without  rejecting  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Church,  in,  which 
resides  the  irreformable  authority  of  the  faith  founded  by  the 
Redeemer.  . . . The  present  enemies  of  God  and  human  society 

employ  every  artifice  to  withdraw  the  people  of  Italy  from  their 
duty  to  us  and  obedience  to  this  Holy  See.  . . . 

“The  perverse  doctrine  sought  to  be  inculcated  cloaks  its  purpose 
under  the  specious  ideas  of  liberty  and  equality,  the  dangerous  pass- 
words of  socialism  and  communism.  Their  system  of  action  is  to 
agitate  unceasingly  the  popular  mind,  to  accustom  the  laboring 
and  poor  classes  to  criminal  words  and  deeds,  . . . seducing 

them  by  the  vision  of  a condition  of  life  far  above  their  present  state. 
They  lead  them,  step  by  step,  to  possess  themselves  of  the  property 
of  the  Church,  then  of  that  belonging  to  the  State,  then  of  the  pro- 
perty of  private  persons,  thereby  weakening  and  blotting  out  in 
men’s  minds  the  simplest  notions  of  right  and  wrong,  and  all  that 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  civil  society  itself. 

“ Let  the  faithful  under  your  care  be  reminded  that  it  is  essential 
to  the  existence  of  every  civil  community  that  all  its  members  should 
obey  the  authorities  lawfully  established  therein ; and  that  no  change 
can  be  made  in  the  divine  precepts  left  us  on  that  subject  in  holy 
writ. 

“ Let  them  not  forget  that  even  among  all  classes  of  men  nature 
has  established  an  inequality  of  gifts,  bodily  and  mental,  . . . 

and  that  it  never  can  be  lawful,  under  any  pretext  of  liberty  and 
equality  to  invade  the  rights  or  usurp  the  possessions  of  others.  . . . 

“ The  poor  and  the  unfortunate  should  remember  how  much  they 
owe  to  the  Catholic  religion.  She  preserves  living  and  imdolate 


Editcation  of  the  Young  Clergy, 


273 


the  teacliing  of  Christ,  that  what  one  does  to  the  lowliest  and  most 
needy  he  shall  hold  to  he  done  to  himself.  The  fulfillment  of  the 
obligation  of  mercy  is  to  be  made,  in  the  final  judgment,  the  condi- 
tion of  eternal  reward  or  punishment.  . . . Hence  the  acknow- 

ledged tenderness  with  which  the  poor  are  treated  in  Catholic  coun- 
tries. 

^‘True  and  perfect  liberty,  as  well  as  equality  among  men,  has 
always  been  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the  Christian  law ; 
for  he  who  created  both  the  great  and  the  lowly,  and  who  hath  an 
equal  care  of  both,  will  judge  both  alike. 

“The  present  anti-Christian  conspiracy,  instead  of  benefiting  the 
popular  classes,  can  only  make  them  reap  a fruitful  crop  of  unhap- 
piness and  calamity.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  human  genius  to 
create  new  societies  or  communities  in  opposition  to  the  essential 
nature  of  things.  Their  extension  throughout  Italy  could  only 
result  in  utterly  destroying  what  now  exists,  in  arming  citizen 
against  citizen,  in  multiplying  usurpations  and  homicides,  and  in 
enriching  a few  men  who  would  rise  to  power  amid  the  general  ruin. 

“To  ward  ofi  from  our  people  such  evils  and  the  machinations 
which  produce  them,  we  must,  under  God,  depend  on  the  moral 
worth  and  exemplary  lives  of  his  ministers.  ...  In  Italy,  it  is 
sad  to  say,  clergymen  have  been  found,  albeit,  in  small  number,  to 
pass  over  to  the  enemy  and  help  to  seduce  our  people.  We  wush  to 
take  preservative  measures  against  future  ills,  and  repeat  the  warn- 
ing given  in  our  first  encyclical  (page  118) ; bestow  your  utmost  care 
in  selecting  candidates  for  the  holy  ministry.  . . . 

“ The  Church  of  God  derives  from  healthy  m^onastic  establish- 
ments immense  benefits  and  great  glory  ; the  regular  clergy  are  your 
own  efficient  auxiliaries  in  your  holy  labors.  Assure  those  of  your 
respective  dioceses  that,  amid  our  own  sufferings,  we  have  sympa- 
thized with  them  in  their  recent  affliction,  and  that  we  have  ex- 
perienced no  little  consolation  in  learning  their  patient  courage,  and 
constant  attachment  to  their  profession.  . . . But  there  w'ere 

others  who  caused  us  bitter  grief.  . , . Warn  the  superiors  of 

religious  houses  to  omit  no  effort  in  enforcing  discipline,  ...  in 
making  their  subordinates  preserve  inviolate  every  one  of  their  rules, 
to  show  that  they  are  the  followers' of  the  Crucified.  . . . Let 

them  see  to  it  that  the  door  of  admission  to  their  respective  orders  be 
opened  to  none  save  the  most  worthy  ...  in  accordance  with 
our  ordinance  of  January  the  25th  of  last  year. 


274 


Life  of  Pope  Piles  IX, 


We  come  back,  once  more,  to  the  secular  clergy.  We  recom- 
mend to  you  above  all  things  the  instruction  and  training  of  the 
young  clergy.  . . . Let  them  have  schools  of  their  own  near 

the  sanctuary  of  the  living  God,  where  they  may  grow  up  in  inno- 
cence, modesty,  and  priestly  fervor,  under  well-chosen  masters,  who 
can  teach  them  irreproachably  literature,  the  elementary  and  ad- 
vanced sciences,  but  especially  the  knowledge  of  sacred  literature 
and  science. 

‘^So  wdth  the  schools  in  which  young  laymen  are  taught — ^let 
everything  there  be  in  conformity  with  the  rule  of  Catholic  doctrine 
and  life.  . . . Your  wisdom  must  tell  you  that  in  an  age  so 

full  of  spiritual  peril,  we  all  need  to  make  united  and  continual 
efforts  to  watch  over  the  education  of  the  youth  of  both  sexes. 
. . . The  diabolical  ingenuity  of  God’s  enemies  seeks  evermore 

and  by  all  imaginable  means  to  pervert  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
young. 

‘‘We  hope  that  . . . the  sovereigns  of  Italy  may  see  that  the 

primary  cause  of  all  the  evils  that  have  befallen  the  country  is  none 
other  than  the  ancient  injury  done  to  religion  and  the  Church  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  . . . Hence  the  increasing  contempt  of 

episcopal  authority,  the  continual  and  unpunished  violation  of  the 
divine  law,  the  disobedience  to  God  and  the  Church  leading  to  re- 
bellion against  the  civil  power ; the  spectacle  of  Church  property 
seized,  sequestrated  and  sold  at  public  auction,  followed  by  the 
teaching  of  socialism  and  communism  inculcating  the  doctrine  that 
all  property  is  a usui'pation  and  a wrong.  Hence,  all  the  restraints 
formerly  imposed  by  sovereigns  on  the  teaching  and  ministrations  of 
the  Church  are  now  placed  by  the  people  on  the  prerogatives  and 
power  of  the  sovereigns  themselves.” 

Such  was  the  fatherly  voice  that  went  forth  from  the  pontiff’s 
place  of  exile  to  the  hierarchy  of  Italy,  and  which  was  soon  re- 
echoed all  over  both  continents.  Had  the  temporal  sovereignty  of 
modern  Home  been  like  any  other  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  the  ques- 
tion of  its  restoration  would  have  been  one  of  very  inferior  impor- 
tance as  compared  with  the  mighty  interests  involved  in  the  free 
exercise  of  a ministry  so  far-reaching  as  that  of  the  Eoman  bishop. 
It  is  only  when  one  takes  up  and  reads  seriously  such  utterances  as 
this  encyclical  to  the  Italian  bishops,  or  that  other  wdiich  Pius  IX. 
addressed  to  the  universal  Church  in  November,  1846,  that  one 
grasps  the  significance  of  the  charge  given  to  Peter  and  his  sue- 


The  Far-reaching  Voice  of  the  Pontiff,  2^5 

CGSSors,  '^Confirm  thy  brethren  ! ” ‘^Feed  my  lambs  ! Feed  my 
sheep  ! ’’  There  never  has  been  an  authority  like  this  on  earth ; 
there  never  has  been  a voice  listened  to  with  such  deep  reverence 
by  Christians  of  every  clime  under  the  sun.  The  voice  of  the  ortho- 
dox Greek  patriarch  at  Constantinople  is  seldom  raised  to  teach,  to 
reprove,  to  warn,  and  when  it  is,  its  echoes  die  away  within  a little 
corner  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  unheard  by  Christendom  and  the 
civilized  world.  That  other  archbishop,  who  sits  first  in  the  Holy 
Synod  of  the  Eussian  Empire,  is  but  a paid  official  of  the  Tsar,  who 
has  no  more  doctrinal  authority  than  the  imperial  will  chooses  to 
impart  to  his  words  and  his  acts.  Eussian  orthodoxy  resembles 
those  corpses  used  of  old  in  necromancy : the  voice  that  proceeds 
from  the  inanimate  lips  is  not  the  living  voice  of  the  soul  which 
once  quickened  these  bloodless  limbs,  it  is  the  voice  of  a dread  spirit 
using  the  inanimate  organs  for  its  own  purposes. 

Not  so  he  who,  wheresoever  he  happens  to  be,  speaks  as  the  suc- 
cessor of  Peter,  the  shepherd  of  the  whole  flock,  whom  ‘^the  sheep 
follow  because  they  know  his  voice.’’  It  is  of  exceeding  importance 
to  the  whole  Christian  family,  to  every  human  being,  that  an 
authority  divinely  instituted  to  exist  for  all  time,  and  to  have  for  its 
subjects  all  living  souls,  should  not  be,  like  the  schismatic  patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  the  slave  of  a power  most  hostile  to  the  Christian 
faith,  or,  like  him  of  St.  Petersburg,  or  Mohilew,  or  Moscow,  the 
mere  passive  organ  of  an  autocrat  all  the  more  tyrannical  that  he  is 
one  in  belief  with  his  docile  servant. 

The  question  of  the  restoration  of  Pius  IX.  to  his  principality  is 
one  of  all-absorbing  importance  to  the  diplomats  assembled  at  Gaeta ; 
but  the  great  functions  of  the  sovereign  pontiff  are  performed  mean- 
while as  if  Pius  IX.  were  still  in  the  Quirinal  as  firmly  seated  on  his 
throne  and  as  peacefully  governing  his  people  as  was  St.  Pius  V. 

Leave  wo,  then,  the  diplomats  to  their  cross  purposes  yet  a while  ; 
the  Holy  Father  has  another  great  duty  to  perform,  not  in  favor 
of  one  portion  only  of  the  Christian  world,  but  toward  the  whole 
Church.  It  has  ever  been  the  belief  of  Catholics  that,  just  as  the 
mother  of  the  Eedeemer,  while  he  was  near  her  on  earth,  had  no  in- 
terest at  heart  but  his — the  souls  whom  he  had  come  to  redeem,  and 
the  Church  which  he  was  to  create  through  his  teaching  and  blood — 
even  so  now,  that  she  is  by  his  side  in  heaven,  she  seeks  only  his  in- 
terests— the  freedom,  the  extension,  the  glory  of  that  same  Church, 
and,  through  lier  ministrations,  the  salvation  of  all  the  redeemed. 


276 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Hence  tlie  conviction  that  she  who  is  the  second  Eve,  the  mother 
of  the  true  life,  is  evermore  at  enmity  with  the  evil  one  and  all  who 
are  leagued  with  him  against  her  Son  and  the  Church,  his  spouse. 
She  wards  off  heresies  and  schisms  ; it  is  by  her — such  is  the  most 
ancient  belief — that  God  crushes  the  serpentine  head  of  every  pesti- 
lential error. 

Placed  as  supreme  shepherd  and  father  over  Christ’s  family,  what 
more  natural  for  Pius  IX.,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  warfare  that 
assailed  himself  and  the  Church,  than  to  betake  himself  to  her  who 
is  the  Mother-ever-blessed  of  him  who  is  head  over  all  the  children 
of  God  ? Never,  since  the  Church  left  the  catacombs  to  enjoy  the 
peace  of  Constantine,  did  the  powers  of  evil  beset  her  and  all  human 
society  with  such  a formidable  array  of  heresies  and  hateful  designs. 
The  woman  foretold  to  Eve  in  paradise  as  predestined  to  crush  the 
serpent’s  head,  she  who  stood  by  the  tree  on  Calvary,  must  prove  her 
power  and  her  love  for  humanity.  Now  is  the  time  to  show  herself 
to  be  our  mother. 

Hence  the  resolution  of  the  exiled  and  anxious  pontiff  to  define 
the  bearing  of  that  first  of  all  prophecies,  the  privilege  of  the  mother 
of  the  Kedeemer  to  be  like  her  son  in  his  humanity,  exempt  from 
original  sin,  and  to  share  his  undying  enmity  to  error  and  evil. 
The  honor  of  the  son  being  inseparably  identified  with  that  of  his 
mother,  such  unanimous  effort  of  Christ’s  family  to  proclaim  her 
singular  exemption  from  every  stain  of  sin  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  pleasing  to  him,  and  must  draw  down  a special  blessing  on  the 
exiled  shepherd  and  his  whole  fiock. 

The  subject  was  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  Pius  IX.  since  his  ar- 
rival in  Gaeta,  and  on  February  2d,  1849,  he  published  an  encyclical  to 
the  universal  hierarchy  declaring  his  purpose  of  defining  the  doctrine 
of  the  immaculate  conception.  He  established  a commission  of  car- 
dinals and  eminent  theologians,  whose  duty  it  was  ^‘to  examine  the 
subject  in  its  every  aspect,  and  with  the  most  extreme  care,  and  to 
report  their  matured  judgment  thereon.”  He  calls  upon  all  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  to  have  public  prayers  offered  up  by  their  people 
in  order  to  obtain  abundant  light  from  above  on  so  weighty  a discus- 
sion ; desires  them  to  let  him  know  as  soon  as  possible  what  are  the 
feelings  of  devotion  of  themselves  and  their  people  toward  the  im- 
maculateness of  their  blessed  mother,  and  how  far  they  wish  to  have 
a decree  published  thereon  by  the  Holy  See.  He  mentions  the  gen- 
eral wish  manifested  throughout  the  Catholic  world  under  Gregory 


Misunderstood  by  Protesta7its,  277 

XVI.,  to  haye  a definitiye  judgment  on  this  question.  This  wish 
was  attested  by  the  unceasing  petitions  sent  to  our  predecessor  and 
to  ourselves,  by  the  most  illustrious  prelates,  distinguished  metro- 
politan chapters,  influential  religious  orders,  particularly  the  glori- 
ous Order  of  Friars  Preachers.  . . . Moreover,  men  of  eminent 

genius,  piety,  and  learning  . . . have  expressed  their  surprise 

that  the  Church  and  the  Apostolic  See  had  not  decreed  to  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mary  an  honor  so  fervently  petitioned  for  by  the  faithful.’’ 

A Protestant  historian  often  mentioned  in  this  book,  betrays  on 
this  matter  the  same  incomprehensible  ignorance  which  distinguishes 
his  every  attempt  at  dealing  with  Catholic  dogma.  He  speaks  of  the 
prospective  definition  as  ^^the  affirmation  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Virgin  Mary/’  . . . ^Hhe  assertion  of  the  divinity  of  the  Virgin, 
the  latest  and  most  astounding  development  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
immaculate  conception,  though  not  yet  stated  boldly,  bids  fair  to 
reach  this  last  stage  before  the  system  of  which  it  is  a part  shall  be 
swept  away,  prior  to  the  consecration  and  renovation  of  the  world, 
upon  which  it  has  proved  so  mysterious  a blot.  And  who  shall  say 
that  its  promulgation — the  exaltation  of  a creature  to  the  heights 
where  alone  divinity  can  shine — shall  not  constitute  the  filling  up  of 
the  measure  of  iniquity  ? ” 

When  this  earth  of  ours  was  first  prepared  by  its  beneficent  Creator 
to  be  the  abode  of  our  first  parents,  not  content  with  decking  it  out 
as  became  the  dwelling-place  of  creatures  exalted  to  the  rank  of  his 
adopted  children,  he  pronounced  it  excellent,  and  blessed  the  inno- 
cent pair  to  whom  he  made  over  its  dominion.  Even  Protestants 
acknowledge  that  Adam  and  Eve  might  have  preserved  the  inno- 
cence and  holiness  of  their  first  condition,  and  that  their  posterity 
might  have  lived  with  them  and  after  them,  generation  succeeding 
generation,  without  sin,  and  without  forfeiting  in  aught  the  favor  of 
their  Maker  or  any  one  of  the  priceless  gifts  lavished  on  them. 

Certainly — most  certainly,  rather — it  was  the  Creator’s  intention, 
that  both  our  progenitors  and  their  posterity  should  so  live  during 
the  entire  cycle  allotted  in  the  divine  counsels  to  their  existence ; 
there  was  thus,  in  the  primordial  plan  of  providence,  to  be  on  earth 
neither  sin  nor  stain  in  the  beginnings  of  human  life,  or  in  its 
earthly  termination.  The  commission  of  sin  was  an  accident,  dis- 
turbing the  divine  economy,  causing  man  to  fall  from  his  innocence  ; 
but  it  was  not  a necessary  accident. 

Whatever  theological  opinion  one  may  entertain  with  regard  to 


278 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


the  nature  of  the  innocence  and  holiness  in  which  sin  found  our  first 
parents,  this  much  is  beyond  controversy,  that  the  natural  perfec- 
tion in  which  they  were  created,  or  the  superadded  gifts  of  holiness 
and  justice,  involved  absolutely  nothing  equal  to  the  exaltation  of 
a creature  to  the  heights  where  alone  divinity  can  shine.”  Adam 
was  not  God  before  he  fell,  nor  Eve  a 'Mivinity”  in  any  sense  in 
which  the  Christian  mind  understands  what  is  proper  to  the  divine 
nature.  The  children  destined  to  be  born  innocent  of  Eve  innocent, 
were  not  exalted”  or  transformed  into  the  deity  by  their  sinless 
conception  or  their  equally  sinless  birth.  To  be  conceived  without 
sin,  to  be  born  without  sin,  to  live  without  sin,  was,  to  God’s  mind, 
to  be  for  them  the  ordinary  condition  and  law  of  human  existence. 
Every  child  sprung  from  Adam  was  destined  to  be  so  conceived  and 
so  born.  Where  is  there,  in  this  primordial  view  of  human  nature 
and  human  existence,  any  logical  connection  between  a stainless,  sin- 
less conception  and  birth,  and  the  possession  of  the  attributes  which 
constitute  a being  God  ? 

There  is  a further  step  in  this  most  rational  argument.  If — as 
it  was  the  Creator’s  design — man,  aided  by  divine  grace,  had  thus 
filled  the  entire  cycle  of  his  earthly  and  probationary  existence, 
without  forfeiting  the  innocence  and  integrity  of  the  primeval  state, 
could  not  the  Eternal  Word  and  Son,  in  whom  and  through  whom 
man  was  made,  not  become  united  to  our  nature  innocent,  as  all 
know  he  did  to  our  nature  fallen  and  stained  ? The  thing — it  must 
be  admitted — was  possible.  For  if  it  be  most  worthy  of  the  Infinite 
Mercy  to  stoop  to  our  lost  nature  and  take  it  to  himself,  to  redeem, 
repair  it,  and  raise  it  up,  it  will  not  seem  unworthy  of  the  Infinite 
Holiness  to  unite  itself  to  that  same  nature  unstained  and  sinless, 
nor  less  beseeming  that  goodness  which  yearneth  to  give  itself,  to 
honor  human  nature  in  its  moral  integrity  by  so  unspeakable  a 
union. 

But,  had  God  become  incarnate  among  a sinless  race,  his  mother, 
like  every  daughter  of  the  race,  would  have  been  born  without  original 
sin  (for,  in  the  supposition,  no  such  sin  existed),  she  would  have  been 
immaculate,  free  from  all  stain  of  sin  in  her  conception  and  her  birth, 
and  that  by  virtue  of  the  common  law  regulating  all  human  life  and 
existence.  Her  immaculateness  involved,  could  involve  no  exalta- 
tion to  the  rank  exclusively  due  to  the  deity.  Xow,  in  the  present 
fallen  state  of  man,  Mary,  the  mother  of  the  incarnate  Son,  is  by 
grace  what  the  other  would  have  been  by  nature,  by  prirflege  and 


Timely  Disacssion  of  the  Doctrine, 


279 


exception  due  to  the  anticipated  application  of  the  merits  and  power 
of  her  Son,  what  that  other  parent  would  have  been  by  the  common 
law. 

The  common  law  in  the  one  case  would  not  have  made  the  mother 
a divine  being,  the  singular  exception  and  privilege  under  the  law 
of  original  sin  cannot  possibly  involve  anything  approaching  to  a 
divine  attribution.  The  Son  owed  to  himself,  to  his  honor  and  that 
of  his  mother,  to  preserve  her  from  stain,  and  he  did  so,  leaving  her 
the  while,  as  he  needs  must  leave  her,  a human  being,  neither  more 
nor  less,  pure,  sinless,  most  blessed  and  most  exalted  in  being  des- 
tined to  be  his  mother,  but  only  a human  being  nevertheless. 

Such  was  the  question  which  occupied  the  mind  and  heart  of  Pius 
IX.  not  only  at  Gaeta,  amid  the  novel  circumstances  of  his  exile 
and  the  anxiety  caused  by  the  state  of  affairs  in  Eome,  but  during 
the  two  first  years  of  his  pontificate.  It  was,  in  a humanitarian  age, 
one  that  lay  at  the  very  foundation  of  all  that  is  most  glorious  in  the 
origin  and  destinies  of  the  race ; it  compelled  the  serious- minded, 
the  theologian,  the  philosopher,  the  statesman,  to  contemplate  in 
their  magnificent  connection  these  great  doctrinal  facts  which  show 
man  issuing  from  the  hands  of  his  maker  crowned  with  glory  and 
honor,  raised  to  a supernatural  dignity  by  the  pure  goodness  of  his 
benefactor,  falling  into  sin  through  the  abuse  of  his  own  native 
freedom,  mercifully  spared  by  the  offended  deity,  and  in  the  very 
sentence  which  banishes  him  from  the  earthly  paradise,  promised 
and  foreshown  the  future  restoration  in  which  the  Second  Adam  and 
the  Second  Eve  are  associated  as  the  parents  of  a new  life,  the 
progenitors  of  a new  people,  and  the  repairers  of  the  primordial 
ruin. 

Surely,  in  an  age  in  which  natural  science,  absorbing  in  its 
pretentiousness  the  theologies  and  philosophies  of  the  past,  aims 
openly  at  banishing  the  living  God  of  our  fathers  from  all  minds  and 
hearts,  and  replacing  him  by  the  blind,  unintelligent,  impersonal 
force  of  mere  matter,  it  was  opportune  and  providential  that  all 
who  believe  in  Christ  and  in  the  preceding  revelation,  should  be 
recalled  to  the  study  of  the  first  origin  of  humanity  and  its  godlike 
destinies  throughout  all  time.  To  make  the  peoples  of  Christendom, 
distracted  and  demoralized  by  revolutions  and  the  fears  or  hopes  of 
coming  social  change,  or  half  materialized  by  the  doctrines  and 
pursuits  of  a commercial  and  industrial  age,  lift  their  souls  to  Christ 
the  father  of  the  life  to  come,  and  to  elevate  and  warm  their  hearts 


28o 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


with  tlie  renewed  love  of  him,  who  is  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of 
our  flesh,  as  well  as  most  blessed  God,  was  worthy  of  the  chief  pas- 
tor of  the  Church. 

He  did  not  propose  a new  doctrine,  or  dream  of  adding  to  the  de- 
posit of  revealed  truth  a single  tittle  that  it  did  not  already  contain. 
He  purposed  in  the  light  of  the  traditional  belief  of  all  Christian 
ages  to  define  and  decide  the  fact  as  to  whether  the  doctrine  of  the 
immaculate  conception  were  or  not  a part  of  revealed  truth. 

One  is  amazed  to  read  in  a grave  historical  work  on  the  early  pon- 
tificate of  Pius  IX.,  not  only  the  monstrous  assertion  which  called 
forth  the  foregoing  explanation,  but  such  an  assertion  as  this  : It 
was  at  Gaeta,  as  I have  said,  that  the  solution  of  the  controversy 
which  had  been  so  long  discussed  by  Church  doctors  was  ‘ revealed  ’ 
to  Pius  IX.”  Xo  one  more  than  Pius  himself  would  have  been 
shocked  by  the  possibility  of  such  a ^revelation.’  But  to  Catholics 
who  live  in  Protestant  lands  it  ought  to  be — unfortunately  it  is  not 
— a ^revelation’  to  meet  with  such  ignorance,  real  or  affected,  of 
their  most  cherished  beliefs  and  most  accessible  doctrines,  and  that, 
too,  in  men  who  think  they  know  our  teaching  far  better  than  we 
do  ourselves. 

While  the  Catholic  world  is  listening  with  a rapt  respect  to  the 
eloquent  lessons  of  their  supreme  teacher,  and  hastening  to  comply 
with  his  wishes,  it  may  be  well  to  see  what  the  revolutionists  are 
doing  with  Rome  and  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  what  the  Chris- 
tian powers  are  intent  on  doing  toward  his  restoration. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 


Revolutionary  Changes  in  Rome — Convocation  of  the  Roman 
Constituent — The  Elections,  how  Carried — The  Reign 
OF  Wholesale  Confiscation — The  Reign  of  Wholesale 
Murder — Appeal  for  Intervention — Why  the  Interven- 
tion WAS  NOT  Bloodless — Louis  Napoleon  will  be  the 
Pope’s  Master. 


January- July,  1849. 


0 one  who  has  kept  in  mind  the  sequence  of  events  which  led 


to  the  flight  of  the  Holy  Father  to  Gaeta,  and  the  condition 
of  things  in  Rome  at  the  beginning  of  December,  hut  must  expect  to 
see  the  revolutionists  precipitating  the  changes  which  they  had  been 
so  long  prepared  for. 

Both  chambers  had  been  prorogued  by  the  Pope  on  December  the 
7th,  but  on  the  11th  both  met  and  set  aside  the  Commission  of 
Government”  appointed  by  the  Pope,  and  by  joint  resolution  de- 
creed the  establishment  of  a supreme  giunta,  or  committee,  to  ^^dis- 
charge all  the  functions  pertaining  to  the  head  of  the  executive 
power  in  the  name  of  the  sovereign.”  This  executive  committee  was 
composed  of  the  senators  of  Rome  and  Bologna,  and  the  mayor  of 
Ancona.  General  Zucchi,  who  was  senator  of  Bologna,  refused  to 
serve  on  it,  and  Galletti  was  put  in  his  place.  The  clubs  openly 
refused  to  acknowledge  its  authority,  and  the  Pope  by  a solemn  pro- 
testation denounced  it  on  December  the  17th  as  a ^^sacrilegious  usur- 
pation ” of  his  sovereign  rights,  reiterating  the  declaration  made  on 
November  the  27th,  that  to  the  ‘^Commission  of  Government”  ap- 
pointed by  him  alone  belonged  the  right  of  governing  in  his  absence. 
Mamiani  still  clung  to  the  long-cherished  fancy,  that,  while  taking 
entirely  away  from  the  Pope  the  executive  civil  functions,  he  should 
be  allowed  to  retain  his  nominal  sovereignty,  together  with  his  unfet- 
tered spiritual  supremacy.  He  made,  at  the  sacriflce  of  the  last  ves- 
tige of  his  popularity,  persistent  efforts  to  maintain  this  ghost  of  a 
sovereignty  in  favor  of  the  absent  Pope.  But  he  was  laughed  to 


281 


282  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 

Ecorn,  and  was  deposed  from  his  place  of  power  by  his  worshipers  of 
the  preceding  week. 

The  supreme  giunta,  as  every  one  anticipated,  did  not  long  uphold 
the  pretense  for  which  it  was  created,  ‘^to  discharge  the  executive 
functions  in  the  name  of  the  sovereign.”  On  December  the  20th 
they  issued  a proclamation  pledging  themselves  to  convoke  as  soon  as 
possible  a constituent  assembly  of  the  Eoman  States,  which  should 
give  definite  and  permanent  form  to  the  political  institutions  called 
for  by  the  people. 

Of  the  ‘‘Commission  of  Government”  instituted  by  the  Pope,  a 
quorum  could  not  be  assembled  with  safety,  or  would  not  be  allowed 
to  act  in  Eome  or  elsewhere  within  the  States  of  the  Church.  Four 
of  its  members,  however,  Zucchi,  Bevilacqua,  Eicci,  and  Barberini, 
resolved  to  go  to  Gaeta  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  to  his  Holiness 
a plan  of  compromise  or  conciliation.  They  were  courteously  re- 
ceived and  referred  to  Cardinal  Antonelli.  They  urged  “the  return 
of  the  Pope  to  his  dominions  ; the  handle  which  his  absence  afforded 
to  the  Eadicals  for  accusing  him  of  being  a reactionist ; the  necessity 
of  affirming  at  once  that  he  did  not  wish  to  take  back  the  liberties  he 
had  established  by  statute  ; the  extreme  importance  of  having,  wi  th- 
out  a moment’s  delay,  a government  conducted  by  persons  of  un- 
questioned authority,  enjoying  both  the  confidence  of  the  sovereign 
and  that  of  the  people;  and  that  this  government  should  enter 
at  once  upon  its  duties,  lest  the  governors  of  provinces  and  the 
municipal  authorities  should  lose  heart,  and  a general  disorganiza- 
tion ensue.” 

Zucchi,  who  was  the  prime  mover  in  this  matter,  pressed  the 
cardinal  secretary  to  lose  no  time  in  hastening  the  return  of  the 
Pope  to  Eome.  It  would  be  fatal  to  the  Pope’s  ascendency  as  well 
as  authority,  he  thought,  if  the  project  of  getting  foreign  govern- 
ments to  inteiwene  between  himself  and  his  subjects  was  carried  out. 
He  was  now  invited  by  his  own  people  to  return,  and  could  do  so 
without  any  loss  of  dignity.  Then  a series  of  measures  was  sug- 
gested calculated  to  benefit  the  country  while  gratifying  the  national 
pride.  Cardinal  Castracane  and  Monsignor  Eoberti,  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  commission,  were  in  Eome,  and  great  anxiety  was  felt  by 
them,  as  well  as  by  the  few  sincere  lovers  of  constitutional  freedom 
in  the  capital,  as  to  the  result  of  this  negotiation. 

While  it  was  pending,  however,  a new  ministry  was  formed  at 
Rome,  in  which  figured  Sterbini,  x\rmellini — an  old  lawyer  seventy 


Convocation  of  the  Roman  Constituent,  283 

years  of  age,  a bitter  opponent  of  Pope  and  priests — and  Galletti. 
One  after  the  other  the  Council  of  State  and  the  two  chambers  had 
collapsed  and  gone  out  of  existence.  Sterbini’s  administration  was 
nothing  more  or  less  than  Sterbini  himself,  as  the  organ  of  the  clubs, 
and  he  with  Galletti  and  the  members  of  the  giunta  declared  them- 
selyes  a ‘^provisional  government,”  published  a decree  on  December 
the  29th  calling  a national  convention,  the  deputies  to  which  were 
to  be  elected  by  universal  suffrage  on  January  the  21st,  and  to  meet 
in  Eome  on  the  5th  of  February.  In  the  provinces,  meanwhile,  the 
governors  threw  up  their  offices,  and  the  real  government  was  left  to 
the  “Committee  of  Clubs”  already  mentioned.  They  hastened  to 
fill  up  with  their  own  trusty  instruments  every  office,  high  and  low, 
throughout  the  pontifical  territory. 

To  the  proclamation  convening  the  Eoman  Constituent  Assembly 
Pius  IX.  replied  on  January  the  1st,  1849,  by  another  solemn  pro- 
testation, in  which  he  reminded  his  subjects  that  all  persons  guilty 
of  any  acts  of  usurpation  against  the  temporalities  of  the  Holy  See 
incur  thereby,  without  further  warning,  the  major  or  greater  ex- 
communication.  This  proclamation  was  torn  down  by  the  popu- 
lace, and,  a solemn  procession  having  been  formed,  it  was  buried 
with  every  circumstance  of  ignominy,  Ciceruacchio  reciting  a mock 
funeral  oration.  Then  a public  meeting  was  called,  and  the  same 
Ciceruacchio  * moved  a resolution  to  the  effect  that  the  Pope  be 
then  and  there  excommunicated,  the  sentence  to  be  sent  to  him 
with  an  address  concluding  thus : “ When  you,  sir  Pope,  left  the 
city  by  the  one  gate,  the  bible  entered  into  it  by  the  opposite  gate, 
and  now  there  is  no  room  for  you.” — Legge,  ii.  139. 

Of  course  this  must  have  been  the  bible  clandestinely  introduced 
by  the  “ colporteurs  ” in  league  with  Mazzini  and  the  sects.  One 
should  be  sorry  to  think  that  the  true  bible,  the  record  of  God^s 
word,  so  reverently  treasured  and  guarded  by  his  Church,  should 
enter  into  any  city  home  in  triumph  by  a foul-mouthed,  blood- 
stained rout  of  assassins  and  lewd  women,  while  generosity  and 
self-sacrifice  and  every  virtue  that  adorns  and  ennobles  manhood  is 
compelled  to  fly  such  a hell  upon  earth. 

On  the  13th  of  January  a decree  was  published  by  the  Sterbini 
government  to  the  following  effect : 


* A friend  suggests  tliat  this  scamp  with  the  unpronounceable  name  should 
be  remembered  as  “Kickem-Whackem.” 


284 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Whereas  the  meeting  in  Eome  of  a national  assembly  haa  been 
demanded  by  the  votes  of  the  whole  people,  . . . 

Whereas  all  efforts'made  to  prevent  in  any  manner  whatever  the 
meeting  of  this  assembly,  . . . 

‘‘W^hereas  the  meeting  of  the  Koman  National  Assembly  is  an 
indispensable  preliminary  to  the  meeting  of  the  Constituent  Assembly 
for  all  Italy,  . . . 

‘‘And  inasmuch  as  at  present  a reactionary  faction  is  laboring  by 
the  most  odious  means  to  excite  the  people  to  civil  war,  and  to  upset 
the  admirable  order  and  tranquillity  for  which  our  people  has  been 
so  distinguished,  and  which  have  secured  the  lives  and  properties  of 
our  citizens ; 

“Therefore  by  the  Provisory  Commission  of  Government  it  is 
hereby  decreed : 

“ That  any  private  individual  or  public  functionary  who  seeks  to 
oppose  the  meeting  of  the  electoral  colleges,  etc.,  ...  is  here- 
by declared  ...  an  enemy  of  the  country,  and  as  such  is  sub- 
jected to  the  extreme  rigor  of  the  laws. 

“For  this  purpose  a Committee  of  Public  Safety  is  created  in 
Eome,  presided  over  by  the  prefect  of  police,  and  destined  to  give 
■to  the  laws  a rapid  and  rigorous  execution. 

“ Each  of  the  presidents  of  provinces  shall  establish  in  his  respec- 
tive government  a similar  committee  and  for  the  same  purpose.” 

On  the  19th  a military  commission  was  established  to  give  effect 
to  the  orders  of  this  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  with  unlimited 
powers  of  judging  without  appeal,  and  of  having  their  sentences 
executed  within  the  twenty-four  hours.  These  bodies  thenceforth 
constituted  the  reign  of  terror  in  the  Papal  States. 

Nothing  now  stood  in  the  way  of  the  perfect  discipline  which 
Young  Italy  had  established  among  its  sworn  legions  ; their  strategy 
of  public  demonstrations  and  processions  was  carried  to  a high 
degree  of  perfection,  and  the  greatest  success  rewarded  their  perse- 
vering efforts  in  Eome  and  its  immediate  neighborhood.  The  list 
of  deputies  had  been  well  prepared  by  the  Committee  of  Clubs,  the 
lists  of  voters  had  been  made  out  with  equal  care,  the  electors  were 
bidden  to  be  in  attendance  at  the  polls — and  they  knew  the  penalty 
of  disobedience  ; at  the  close  of  the  first  day^s  polling  in  Eome,  the 
vast  crowd  that  had  assembled  there  from  every  direction  formed 
processions  bearing  in  triumph  the  ballot-boxes  from  the  different 
centers  to  a given  rendezvous,  and  there,  amid  the  blaze  of  torches 


Wholesale  Confiscation, 


285 


and  the  inspiriting  strains  of  military  music,  they  celebrated  the 
birth  of  popular  liberty  and  the  first  exercise  of  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people  in  the  free  (?)  exercise  of  the  suffrage.  This  spectacle 
was  renewed  every  night  with  increasing  enthusiasm. 

At  length  the  6th  of  February,  the  day  fixed  for  the  meeting  of 
the  Eoman  Constituent,  came.  There  were  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  members  present.  The  first  day’s  session  was  so  violent  that 
Sterbini  had  to  use  extraordinary  efforts  to  ^ make  the  members  pre- 
serve the  appearance  of  moderation  and  parliamentary  order ; but  in 
vain.  Canino  and  Garibaldi  wanted  neither  order  nor  moderation. 
In  the  second  day’s  session  Galletti  was  chosen  president,  and  Ma- 
miani  displayed  no  little  ability  and  eloquence  in  opposing  the  will 
of  the  overwhelming  majority,  who  were  clamorous  for  the  imme- 
diate deposition  of  the  Pope  and  the  proclamation  of  a republic. 
He  besought  them  to  pause  in  their  haste  and  heat,  and  to  refer  the 
final  decision  to  the  Italian  Constituent  when  assembled. 

'^Passion  was  too  strong  for  the  exercise  of  prudence,  . . . 

with  this  worst  of  oligarchies — not  the  'people,  but  the  clubs,  com- 
posed largely  of  the  most  uncivilized  and  barbarous  of  the  Arabs  of 
the  streets,  who  set  themselves  up  to  rule  in  the  name  of  the  people.’’ 
At  two  o’clock  in  the  morning  of  the  9th  a motion  was  carried, 
against  a minority  of  eleven,  decreeing  the  deposition  of  the  Pope. 
In  the  articles  immediately  voted,  one  declares  that  ^^The  Eoman 
pontiff  shall  enjoy  all  the  guarantees  necessary  for  his  independence 
in  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual  power.”  This  reads  as  if  the  republic 
of  February,  1849,  were  the  parent  of  the  Italian  kingdom  of  1871. 

The  secularization — the  confiscation,  rather — of  all  ecclesiastical 
property  was,  of  course,  one  of  the  very  first  acts  of  the  Eoman 
republic  (February  21) ; all  the  deposits  of  money  made  by  religious 
corporations,  or  establishments  presumed  to  be  such,  were  swept  into 
the  republican  treasury  (February  22) ; it  was  decreed  that  all  the 
church  bells  not  necessary  or  not  considered  as  works  of  art  should 
be  cast  for  canon  (February  24) ; the  jurisdiction  of  bishops  over  all 
universities  and  all  schools,  except  diocesan  seminaries,  was  abolished 
(Februaiy  25) ; bishops  and  clergymen  were  deprived  of  the  right  of 
administering  or  superintending  the  property  of  all  sorts  of  benefi- 
cent institutions  (March  12) ; religious  corporations  were  declared 
incapable  of  acquiring  or  alienating  property  in  any  way  whatever 
(March  16);  and  every  one  of  these  decrees  was  headed  ‘^In  the 
name  of  God  and  the  People.” 


286 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Under  tlie  triumvirate  of  Armellini,  Mazzini,  and  Saffi  religious 
vows  of  every  kind  were  declared  irreconcilable  with  civil  duties 
(April  27) ; religious  communities  of  both  sexes  were  invited  ” 
(April  28)  to  contribute  their  spare  clothing  and  linen  toward  the 
defense  of  the  city,  and  to  pray  for  victory  on  the  Roman  arms,  only 
there  was  the  injunction  ‘‘let  your  praters  be  public;”  the  most* 
spacious  monasteries  were  seized  upon  for  penitentiaries,  and  their 
inmates  driven  out  perforce  (April  30) ; the  monastery  of  St.  Syl- 
vester, a central  establishment,  was  let  out  as  a tenement-house 
(May  8) ; the  confessionals  in  all  the  churches  were  carried  away  to 
construct  barricades  with  (May  20).  But  these  measures  were  com- 
paratively innocuous.  There  was  a forced  loan  (February  25)  to 
be  paid  in  three  installments,  levied  on  the  income  of  all  deemed 
wealthy,  odious  committees  with  arbitrary  powers  having  charge  of 
the  income  list,  and  gratifying  at  the  same  time  their  own  private 
revenge  and  their  rapacity ; the  amount  demanded  being  twenty-five 
per  cent.,  thirty- three  and  one- third,  sixty-six  and  two-thirds,  ac- 
cording to  the  estimated  wealth  of  the  persons.  The  loan  was  to 
receive  interest  at  five  per  cent.,  and  was  guaranteed  on  the  national 
property.  It  was  virtual  confiscation. 

With  the  increasing  greed  or  necessity  of  the  triumvirate  these 
measures  of  exaction  increased  in  unblushing  rigor.  On  April  the 
19  th,  the  governors  of  provinces  and  the  committees  of  assessors 
were  directed  to  collect  all  the  gold  and  silver  currency  within  the 
Roman  States,  giving  government  paper  in  its  stead  ; and  on  April 
the  26th,  “a  patriotic  invitation”  was  addressed  to  all  citizens  to 
send  forthwith  their  gold  and  silver  plate  to  the  mint ; and  on  May 
2d,  a committee  of  search  was  appointed  to  see  whether  this  “invita- 
tion ” had  or  had  not  been  complied  with.  Church  plate,  it  may 
be  well  believed,  fared  ill  in  these  evil  days.  But  there  was  worse 
than  all  this  wholesale  plunder  and  confiscation  ; there  was  wholesale 
murder. 

“ In  some  of  the  towns  gangs  of  political  assassins  defied  the 
police,  and  the  republic  dawned  in  a baptism  of  blood.  In  their 
zeal  to  eradicate  every  vestige  of  the  papal  centurioniy  societies  of 
young  men  daily  threw  many  families  into  mourning — a secret 
and  self-constituted  tribunal,  which  assumed  the  sobriquet  of  the 
Infernal  Association,  decreeing  each  day  the  victims  for  the  ensuing 
night.” — Legge,  i.  233. 

The  triumvirate,  or  rather,  the  dictatorship  of  Mazzini,  began 


The  Reign  of  Wholesale  Murder, 


287 


its  rule  on  Marcli  30tli.  legislative  assembly  existed,”  says 

Farini,  ‘^but  be  governed  assembly  as  well  as  people  by  flattery,  by 
tbe  sectarian  cliques,  by  bis  imperturbable  fanaticism,  wbicb  looked 
like  courage  and  confidence,  and  thus  reassured  tbe  simple  and  tbe 
weak  ; by  tbe  aid  of  bis  confidants,  by  tbe  bope  of  universal  revolu- 
tion, by  predictions,  by  mystical  pbilantbropy,  seasoned  with  tbe 
terror  that  tbe  sectaries  knew  bow  to  propagate.  Tbe  revolution  of 
Rome  now  passes  to  a new  form,  or  takes  its  proper,  its  precon- 
ceived, its  essential  one  ; it  is  incarnate  in  Mazzini.” 

One  of  tbe  secretaries  of  tbe  Constituent  Assembly  was  Antonio 
Zambiancbi,  a man  already  infamous  for  more  than  one  crime,  but 
destined  to  a supremacy  in  blood  wbicb  makes  bim  with  Mazzini 
pre-eminent  in  tbe  Roman  pandemonium.  He  signed  tbe  decree  of 
tbe  constituent  declaring  tbe  forfeiture  of  tbe  papal  sovereignty. 
As  tbe  weeks  passed  by,  tbis  man  became,  like  Garibaldi,  wearied  of 
tbe  slowness  witb  wbicb  tbe  new  republic  went  about  its  work  of 
demolition.  He  believed  bimself  commissioned  to  wreak  on  tbe 
priests  especially  tbe  wrongs  of  tbe  past,  and  swore,  an  oatb  wbicb 
be  made  known  to  bis  friends  and  associates,  that  be  would  be  both 
judge  and  executioner  bimself.  He  bad  been  stationed  near  Fondi, 
and  bad  been  most  zealous  in  apprehending  and  sending  back  to 
Rome  all  tbe  fugitives  from  tbe  Papal  States  on  tbeir  way  to  Gaeta. 
His  principle  was  that  every  sucb  person  should  have  been  shot 
down  like  a wolf,  without  other  form  or  judicial  process.  So, 
betaking  bimself  to  Rome,  be  resolved  to  exterminate,  so  far  as 
in  him  lay,  every  clergyman  be  met  witb,  as  being  tbe  professed 
enemy  of  tbe  republic.  Meeting,  as  be  was  entering  Rome,  Father 
Sgbirla,  a Dominican,  a most  exemplary  parish  priest,  and  at  that 
.very  moment  on  bis  way  to  minister  to  a dying  person,  Zambi- 
ancbi stabbed  bim  to  tbe  heart  in  open  day  and  in  tbe  sight  of  tbe 
passers-by ! 

“Zambiancbi,”  says  Legge,  “was  at  tbe  bead  of  a body  of 
men  taken  from  tbe  frontiers,  and  who  were  by  profession  bravos,* 
revenue  officers  termed  tbe  jinanzieri,  numbering  about  300,  who 
were  organized  into  a regiment.  Under  tbeir  brutal  demagogue 
leader  they  distinguished  themselves  by  tbe  number  and  savageness 
of  tbeir  secret  assassinations  ; no  less  than  fourteen  bodies  of  priests, 
some  only  half  buried,  are  said  to  have  been  found  by  tbe  French  at 
tbe  convent  of  San  Callisto  in  Trastavere,  at  wbicb  Zambiancbi  was 
for  a long  time  quartered.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  tbe  number 


288 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


of  ecclesiastics  who  fell  before  the  stiletto  of  the  finanzierif  but  it 
bas  been  computed  that  at  tbe  time  of  tbe  occupation  of  Home  by 
tbe  Frencli  no  less  than  250  priests  were  missing.” — ii.  285,  286. 

Tbe  reader  may  fancy  that  a man  of  Mazzini’s  eminence,  enjoying 
both  before  and  after  tbe  sbort-lived  Roman  republic,  tbe  intimacy 
of  Palmerston,  Gladstone,  and  English  dukes  and  earls,  could  not 
abet,  though  be  might  be  forced  to  tolerate,  such  atrocious  villains 
as  these.  It  is  far  otherwise,  however.  Zambianebi  was  on  a foot- 
ing of  intimacy  with  Mazzini,  and  there  is  extant  a letter  in  which 
the  dictator  asks  bis  ^^dear”  friend  to  send  him,  in  addition  to  tbe 
murderers  already  at  band  to  do  bis  bidding,  ‘^twenty  oi\\Qv  finan- 
zieri  to  complete  important  operations,”  signing  the  precious  mis- 
sive, Thine,  Giuseppe  Mazzini.”  We  have  already  beard  of  tbe 
^'committees  of  public  safety,”  organized  on  tbe  model  of  tbe  French 
terrorist  committees  of  tbe  same  name,  and,  like  them,  clothed  with 
absolute  power.  Capanno,  a notorious  assassin,  bad  been  placed  at 
the  bead  of  these,  and  styled  himself,  "tbe  captain  commanding  tbe 
public  safety.”  He  was  Mazzini’s  right  arm,  and,  as  Maguire  in- 
forms us,  bad  recourse  to  Zambianebi  for  "some  goodi  finanzieriP 
" to  perform  tbe  customary  operation  upon  five  old  wretches.” 

A "League  of  Blood”  was  formed  in  tbe  provinces,  having  its 
center  at  Ancona,  and  whose  sole  purpose  was  wholesale  murder. 
They  killed  an  old  Carmelite,  Father  O’Keller,  and  carried  his  body 
to  tbe  anatomical  chamber  amid  tbe  jeers  of  tbe  mob.  This  com- 
pelled tbe  English  commander  at  tbe  station  to  interfere,  and  de- 
mand of  Mazzini  tbe  instant  suppression  of  this  league. 

Of  tbe  means  taken  to  poison,  pollute,  and  kill  the  souls  of  men 
from  tbe  moment  that  Mazzini’s  rule  began,  we  must  say  nothing 
here.  Young  people  will  read  these  pages,  and  God  forbid  they 
should  find  therein  even  tbe  mention  of  tbe  sources  whence  infor- 
mation on  such  a subject  could  be  drawn.  Tbe  whole  aim  of  the 
Christian  religion  is  to  purify  and  elevate  tbe  soul ; tbe  aim  and 
labor  of  tbe  enemies  of  tbe  soul  and  the  soul’s  creator  consist  in  de- 
basing and  in  soiling.  Tbe  double  work  of  destroying  tbe  life  of 
tbe  body  and  the  nobility  of  tbe  soul  was  carried  on  with  equal  zeal 
by  tbe  fiends  who  ruled  in  Rome  in  1848-49. 

We  turn  away  from  tbe  hideous  thought  of  all  that  Rome  and  tbe 
Roman  States  were  condemned  to  endure  and  to  witness  during  that 
brief  but  fearful  period.  Tbe  revolutionary  and  anti-Christian 
spirit  that  degraded  France  in  1793  seemed  to  live  again  in  Rome, 


Appeal  for  Interveiition, 


289 


and  was  only  expelled  thence  to  reappear  in  Paris  nnder  the  com- 
mune in  the  spring  of  1871.  It  was  the  spirit  of  Mazzini  and 
Young  Italy  which  animated  the  wide-spread  Internationale,  and 
still  lives  and  threatens  in  the  French  and  Belgian  democracies  of 
1877.*  ■ 

When  the  Holy  Father  saw  that  the  republic  had  been  pro- 
claimed in  Borne,  and  that  it  was  rapidly  taking  measures  to  destroy 
in  the  States  of  the  Church  not  only  the  institutions  created  by  the 
piety  of  preceding  ages,  together  with  the  faith  which  had  begotten 
that  piety,  but  also  the  friends  of  all  religion,  law,  and  order,  he  hes- 
itated no  longer  to  appeal  to  the  Catholic  powers.  On  February  the 
18th  a note  of  Cardinal  Antonelli  formally  solicited  their  interven- 
tion, after  exposing  briefly  the  events  which  had  marked  the  deal- 
ings of  the  Pope  with  his  subjects,  and  the  return  which  he  had  re- 
ceived for  his  sincere  efforts  to  inaugurate  a liberal  system  of  reform 
and  progress. 

“He  has  confidence,’’ the  note  says,  “that  they  [the  Catholic 
powers]  will  act  together  with  a serious  zeal,  in  order  that  their 
intervention  may  bring  about  his  restoration  to  his  See,  to  the 
capital  of  these  States  which  have  been  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  his  full  liberty  and  independence,  and  which  repose  on  the 
guarantees  and  treaties  that  constitute  the  basis  of  European  public 
law. 

“Austria,  France,  Spain,  and  the  Two  Sicilies  are,  by  their  geo- 
graphical position,  enabled  to  concur  by  their  arms  in  re-establish- 
ing throughout  the  dominions  of  the  Holy  See  the  order  disturbed 
by  a horde  of  sectaries  ; the  Holy  Father  does  not  therefore  hesitate 
to  invoke  with  a firm  confidence  the  armed  intervention  of  these 
powers.  . . . 

“ It  is  the  only  way  to  restore  peace  and  order  in  the  States  of  the 
Church,  to  replace  the  Holy  Father  in  the  full  liberty  required  for 
the  exercise  of  his  supreme  authority,  in  accordance  with  the  sacred 
character  of  his  office,  the  interests  of  the  universal  Church,  and  the 
peace  of  Christendom.  Thereby  only  can  he  preserve  the  patrimony 
which  he  received  at  his  accession,  and  which  he  is  bound  to  trans- 
mit in  its  integrity  to  his  successors. 

“His  cause  is  that  of  order  and  Catholicity.  He  therefore  trusts 


* See  Maxime  Du  Camp,  Les  Prisons  de  Paris  sous  la  Commune  {Revue  des 
Deux  Mondes,  Mai  et  Juin,  1877). 


290 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


that  all  the  poTvcrs  with  whom  he  is  on  friendly  relations,  and  who 
have  shown  him  so  lively  an  interest  during  the  various  phases  of 
the  present  situation,  will  give  their  moral  support  to  the  armed 
intervention  which  he  has  been  compelled  to  invoke.” 

The  Pope  hoped  that  if  the  Catholic  powers  were  unanimous  and 
had  the  moral  support  of  the  non-Catholic  governments,  the  question 
would  soon  be  decided  without  the  necessity  of  making  war  on  the 
Roman  republic.  This  unquestionably  would  have  been  the  result, 
had  there  existed  such  unanimity,  or  anything  like  a perfect  under- 
standing between  France,  Austria,  and  Spain.  As  it  was,  two  causes 
contributed  to  thwart  the  hopes  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  to  prevent 
the  bloodless  issue  to  which  he  looked  forward. 

These  were  the  tortuous  policy  of  the  President  of  the  French  re- 
public on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  war  between  Piedmont 
and  Austria. 

Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  anxious  to  win  the  good  opinion  of 
all  French  Catholics  by  seeming  to  be  zealous  for  the  restoration  of 
the  sovereign  pontiff  ; hence  the  contradictory  instructions  given  to 
the  French  ambassadors  at  Rome  and  Gaeta.  The  President  was 
opposed  to  the  Pope’s  having  anything  to  do  with  the  management 
of  temporal  affairs,  and  was,  at  bottom,  willing  to  aid  in  restoring 
him  only  on  the  condition  that  he  should  thoroughly  secularize  his 
government.  This  was  the  English  as  well  as  the  Piedmontese  pro- 
gramme ; and  it  was  also  in  conformity  with  the  instructions  given 
to  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  when  sent  as  envoy  extraordinary  to  Rome 
in  April,  1849.  But  such  was  not  the  policy  which  the  Duke  d’Har- 
court  was  instructed  or  allowed  to  pursue  at  Gaeta  while  the  con- 
ference of  the  Catholic  powers  lasted.  He  advocated  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Pope,  with  the  condition  that  the  fundamental  statute 
by  which  the  Holy  Father  had  granted  constitutional  government 
should  be  maintained  in  its  full  vigor.  De  Lesseps  in  reality  sided 
with  the  republicans  in  Rome,  and  while  endeavoring  to  conciliate 
and  procrastinate,  brought  on  active  belligerent  proceedings  between 
General  Oudinot,  the  commander  of  the  French  expeditionary  corps, 
and  the  Romans  under  Avezzana  and  Garibaldi. 

This  result  was  also  precipitated  by  the  victory  of  the  Austrians  at 
Novara.  King  Charles  Albert  had  been  forced  into  war  with  Aus- 
tria by  the  Mazzinians,  who  had  obtained  control  of  the  Piedmontese 
chambers  and  ministry  : it  was,  in  every  way,  what  happened  to 
Nai)oleon  III.  in  1870.  Both  sovereigns  had  to  fight  or  forfeit  their 


Louis  Napoleon  will  be  the  Pope  s Master, 


291 


thrones.  The  Roman  contingent  hastened  to  the  assistance  of  the 
Piedmontese,  and  thus  gave  the  Austrians  a fair  pretext  for  invading 
the  Roman  territory.  It  had,  however,  been  already  agreed  on  that 
the  four  Catholic  powers  should  simultaneously  make  an  armed 
demonstration  against  the  republic.  While,  therefore,  Spain  and 
Prance  sent  their  fleets  and  armies  to  Civita  Vecchia,  and  a Neapoli- 
tan army  was  preparing  to  advance  from  the  south,  the  Austrians 
at  the  north  laid  siege  to  Bologna  and  threatened  Ancona. 

Naples  and  Austria  were  united,  as  Italian  powers,  not  only  in  their 
bitter  hatred  of  Piedmont,  their  common  foe,  but  in  their  anxiety  to 
render,  by  their  joint  action,  the  interference  of  Prance  as  unneces- 
sary as  it  was  to  them  distasteful. 

Prance,  on  her  side  (that  is  the  French  president),  was  determined 
that  she  alone  should  be  the  supreme  arbiter  of  Roman  affairs. 

The  sovereign  pontiff  was  helpless  amid  these  selfish  and  distracted 
counsels  of  the  very  powers  whose  aid  he  had  invoked.  Cardinal 
Antonelli,  as  well  as  the  Pope,  perfectly  understood  that  in  accept- 
ing French  intervention  they  were  giving  themselves  imperious  mas- 
ters. They  had  labored  to  obtain  from  the  four  powers  a common 
note  to  the  triumvirate  so  peremptory  and  energetic  that  its  pre- 
sentation, accompanied  by  a powerful  and  united  display  of  force, 
should  compel  Mazzini  to  surrender  without  shedding  blood. 

Blood,  however,  and  French  blood,  had  been  shed  in  an  imprudent 
advance  of  the  French  toward  Rome  on  April  the  30th,  an  advance 
due  to  the  contradictory  sense  in  which  General  Oudinot  and  De 
Lesseps  understood  their  respective  instructions.  The  defeat  of  the 
French  excited  among  all  classes  in  France  a desire  to  see  the  national 
honor  avenged,  and  in  the  army  before  Rome  an  uncontrollable  im- 
patience of  delay. 

The  Austrian  general  was  peremptorily  warned  by  the  French  com- 
mander-in-chief that  he  must  not  advance  one  step  farther  south- 
ward, and  that  Rome  must  soon  fall  beneath  the  assault  of  French 
valor. 

It  did  fall  on  June  the  30th.  But  the  Holy  Father,  too  well  in- 
formed of  the  real  sentiments  of  Louis  Napoleon,  and  of  the  perfect 
unity  of  vieAvs  which  existed  between  him  and  Lord  Palmerston  and 
the  court  of  Turin  respecting  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy  See, 
refused  to  return  to  Rome. 

Thus  the  diplomatic  notes  and  professions  of  sympathy  published  by 
the  Catholic  powers  from  December,  1848,  to  May,  1849,  though  con- 


292 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


curring  m a severe  condemnation  of  the  excesses  of  the  revolution  and 
the  republic,  and  expressing  a resolve  to  restore  the  sovereign  pontiff, 
had  no  more  effect  in  staying  the  onward  march  of  terrorism,  sacri- 
lege, assassination,  and  oppression  than  the  posting  of  a proclamation 
against  incendiarism  on  the  walls  of  a burning  city  would,  in  staying 
the  progress  of  the  flames  or  the  hand  of  the  robber. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


The  Exiled  Pontiff’s  Loye  fob  his  Subjects — Why  he  did  not 
Retubn  immediately — Conflicting  Aims  of  the  Catholic 
Powers — Pius  resents  Louis  Napoleon’s  impertinent  Dic- 
tation— What  he  purposes  doing  for  his  People — His 
Zeal  for  the  Revival  of  Faith  throughout  Italy — De- 
signs OF  Conciliation  suggested  by  Nature  around  Por- 
Tici — The  People’s  Waywardness  and  Passionateness. 

September,  1849- April,  1850. 

ROME  ! Rome  ! God  is  my  witness  that  I daily  lift  up  my 
V-/  voice  to  him,  and  prostrate  in  supplication  before  him  be- 
seech the  divine  majesty  to  stay  the  scourge  which  desolates  thee, 
and  becomes  hourly  more  intolerable  ! I implore  him  to  stop  the 
spread  of  pestilential  teaching  and  to  banish  from  thy  walls  and 
from  the  entire  State  these  politicians  who  make  so  ill  an  use  of  the 
name  of  the  people.” 

This  was  said  on  February  the  2d,  1849,  and  before  the  institution 
of  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  and  the  Military  Tribunals,  or 
the  assembling  of  the  Roman  Constituent.  What  was  the  agony  of 
the  fatherly  heart  which  gave  utterance  to  these  words,  as  the  Ro- 
man republic  ran  its  mad  career  subsequently,  can  only  be  told  by 
those  who  were  the  daily  and  hourly  witnesses  of  the  Holy  Father’s 
conduct.  Why  should  his  biographer  dwell  on  the  details  of  the 
fearful  struggle  which  preceded  the  final  triumph  of  the  French 
arms  ? There  were  acts  and  scenes  of  courage,  daring,  and  heroism 
which  Livy  himself  might  have  recorded  with  a true  Roman  pride. 
But  there  were  committed  together  with  these  noble  deeds,  day  after 
day,  acts  so  dastardly,  so  savage,  so  wantonly  sacrilegious,  that  to 
clironicle  both  is  repugnant  to  Christian  feeling ; and  to  dwell  on 
tlie  former  without  mentioning  the  latter  would  be  to  falsify  history,, 
and  to  describe  the  latter  in  their  true  colors  would  make  the  reader 
believe  that  Italian  depravity  infinitely  outweighed  Italian  virtue ; 

293 


294 


Life  of  Pofe  Pius  IX. 


that  the  Christianity  of  modern  Eome  is  as  fruitful  of  cowardl^^ 
ferocity  as  the  old  Koman  paganism  was  fruitful  in  bravery  and 
magnanimity.  ' 

On  the  3d  day  of  July  the  French  army  had  taken  possession  of 
Rome,  and  the  French  tricolor  was  hoisted  over  Castle  St.  Angelo. 
Colonel  Niel,  a man  of  Irish  extraction,  but  whose  ancestors  had  been 
for  generations  resident  in  France,  was  commissioned  to  bear  to  the 
Pope  the  tidings  of  the  surrender,  with  the  keys  of  one  of  the  gates. 
‘‘Accept,  General,’’  writes  the  Pope  to  General  Oudinot,  ^^my  con- 
gratulations for  the  leading  part  you  have  had  in  this  event ; con- 
gratulations, not  for  the  blood  shed,  from  which  my  heart  recoils, 
but  for  the  triumph  of  order  over  anarchy,  for  the  liberty  restored 
to  respectable  and  Christian  people,  to  whom  it  shall  no  more  be 
made  a crime  to  enjoy  the  wealth  bestowed  by  Providence,  and  to 
worship  God  in  public  without  fear  of  incurring  thereby  the  loss  of 
life  or  liberty. 

“As  to  the  serious  difficulties  that  lie  before  me,  I must  trust  in 
the  divine  goodness  to  enable  me  to  meet  them.” 

The  Pope  hastened  to  console  his  subjects  by  a proclamation,  in 
which  he  allowed  his  heart  to  speak  : “ God  has  stretched  forth  his 
arm,”  he  says,  “and  has  forced  the  tide  of  anarchy  and  impiety  to 
stop  in  its  course.  . . . All  praise  to  the  Lord,  who  even  in  his 

just  indignation  is  ever  mindful  of  his  mercy ! 

“ Beloved  subjects,  if  amid  the  whirl  of  the  late  horrible  changes 
our  heart  has  been  filled  to  overflowing  with  bitterness  when  we  be- 
thought us  of  the  many  evils  endured  by  the  Church,  by  religion, 
and  by  you,  that  heart  did  not  cease  to  entertain  toward  you  the  old 
afiection.  We  yearn  to  be  with  you  once  more ; and  whenever  we 
shall  be  free  to  return,  we  shall  go  back  to  you  with  the  ardent  de- 
sire of  comforting  you,  and  the  sincere  will  to  devote  ourselves  to 
your  true  happiness,  by  applying  to  serious  evils  difficult  remedies, 
and  by  comforting  loyal  subjects,  who  wishing  as  we  ourselves  do 
for  institutions  in  harmony  with  their  needs,  are  also  anxious  to  se- 
cure the  liberty  and  independence  of  the  sovereign  pontiff  so  neces- 
sary to  the  peace  of  the  Catholic  world.” 

On  the  17th  of  July  the  Pope  nominated  a commission  of  three 
cardinals  to  govern  in  his  name  till  his  return ; these  were  Car- 
•dinals  Della  Genga-Sermattei,  Vannicelli-Casoni,  and  Altieri.  The 
name  of  Cardinal  Altieri  was  in  itself  a pledge  of  large-hearted  lib- 
erality ; his  life,  like  his  heroic  death,  during  the  cholera  of  1867, 


Why  Piles  IX.  Delayed  his  Return.  295 

was  one  of  absolute  and  unremitting  devotion  to  bis  priestly  duties. 
A prince  by  birth,  and  of  princely  heart  and  spirit  as  well,  it  was  to 
such  noble-souled  Eomans  as  he — not  to  the  Mazzinis  and  Gallettis 
— that  Rome  should  have  trusted  the  framing  and  working  of  her 
liberal  institutions. 

This  commission  began  its  labors  on  the  1st  of  August,  announcing 
by  a proclamation  of  that  date  how  they  purposed  fulfilling  their 
delicate  and  difficult  task.  They  are  sent  ^^to  repair  as  speedily 
as  possible  the  serious  damage  done  by  anarchy  and  the  despotism  of 
a few. 

Our  first  care  shall  be  that  religion  and  morality  be  respected  as 
the  basis  of  all  social  order ; that  justice  be  allowed  to  extend  its 
reign  to  all  without  distinction,  and  that  the  public  administration 
be  brought  back  to  the  steady  and  progressive  methods  pursued  be- 
fore it  had  been  usurped  by  nameless  and  senseless  demagogues. 

‘^For  that  purpose  Ave  shall  call  to  our  aid  men  knoAvn  for  their 
wisdom  and  zeal,  as  well  as  for  the  general  confidence  reposed  in 
them.  ...  At  the  head  of  the  different  ministerial  departments 
shall  be  placed  persons  of  integrity  and  experience.  . . . 

Thus  confidence  will  revive  among  all  classes  and  conditions, 
while  the  Holy  Father  is  laboring  with  his  whole  heart  and  soul  to 
prepare  such  improvements  and  institutions  as  are  compatible  with 
his  dignity,  his  sovereignty  as  pontiff,  the  peculiar  nature  of  this 
State,  . . . and  the  w^ants  of  his  subjects.” 

But  why  did  not  Pius  IX.  return  to  Rome  forth Avith  ? Why  leave 
to  a commission — and  a commission  of  churchmen — the  difficult 
task  of  governing  a city  which  had  just  endured  the  horrors  of  a 
siege,  and  in  which  foreign  bayonets  alone  maintained  order  ? 

It  is  a serious  and  embarrassing  question.  Yet  must  it  be  fairly 
and  frankly  answered. 

France  had  taken  on  herself  alone  the  task  of  reducing  Rome  to 
obedience,  the  share  taken  by  the  other  Catholic  powers  having  been 
comparatively  inconsiderable.  As  already  stated,  Louis  Napoleon 
had,  in  France,  to  please  the  republican  majority  of  the  French  As- 
sembly, which  required  that  the  Pope  should  maintain  the  liberal 
institutions  already  granted  to  his  subjects,  complete  them,  and  se- 
cure their  working  successfully  under  the  protection  of  the  French 
flag.  The  Assembly  had  no  wish  to  weaken  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Holy  Father ; it  only  wished  it  to  be  reconciled  Avith  the  desire  of 
his  subjects  for  representative  institutions,  and  with  the  general 


296 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


spiiit  of  the  age.  The  president  in  this  agreed  with  the  Assembly  ; 
but  in  his  secret  convictions  and  fixed  purpose  he  was  entirely  op- 
posed to  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Holy  See.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  had  to  spare  the  sentiments  of  the  French  clergy,  whose 
favor  he  was  then  anxious  to  secure  for  the  furtherance  of  his  own 
imperial  ambition. 

He  pursued,  after  the  fall  of  Home,  the  same  tortuous  policy 
which  had  marked  his  course  before  that  event ; in  public  he  pro- 
fessed to  be  sincerely  in  favor  of  the  independence  of  the  Holy 
Father  ; in  secret,  he  designed  to  strip  him  of  the  last  remnant  of 
political  power  and  influence.  Thus  General  Oudinot  and  M.  de 
Corcelles,  the  French  ambassador,  received  from  the  French  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  one  set  of  instructions,  while  the  prince-president 
gave  quite  another  set  to  his  own  private  representative.  Colonel 
Edouard  Ney. 

Unfortunately  the  letter  addressed  to  the  latter,  and  already  quoted 
(page  247),  was  made  public.  The  conditions  it  imposed  upon  the 
Holy  Father  were  such  as  must  be  sovereignly  offensive  to  him,  while 
pleasing  the  Eadical  wing  of  the  French  Assembly,  the  more  moder- 
ate Mazzinians,  the  Piedmontese  government,  and  Lord  Palmerston. 

Pius  IX.  had  been  disappointed  by  the  result  of  his  appeal  to  the 
Catholic  powers.  As  his  sovereignty  and  the  existence  of  the  eccle- 
siastical State  were  based  on  the  same  public  law  of  Christendom 
which  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  whole  system  of  European  polity,  ho 
had  expected  that  all  the  powers,  non-Catholic  as  well  as  Catholic, 
would  answer  his  appeal  by  letting  the  Italian  revolutionists  know, 
once  for  all,  that,  if  certain  reforms  were  granted  in  accordance  with 
the  advice  of  the  powers,  they  would  tolerate  no  attempt  on  tlie  part 
of  the  seditious  to  disturb  the  pontifical  government  in  its  pacific 
course  of  improvement. 

Instead  of  this,  one  man,  notoriously  in  league  with  the  Mazzi 
nians,  and  raised  to  the  first  office  in  France,  had  taken  the  whole 
Eoman  question  into  his  own  hands,  and  was  solving  it  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  revolutionists,  not  for  that  of  the  Holy  See. 

Austria,  Spain,  and  Naples  saw  this,  and,  apart  from  their  natural 
jealousy  of  France,  they  resented  it  as  an  insult  to  the  Holy  Father, 
and  an  impertinent  dictation  to  him,  when  his  own  heart  and  judg- 
ment inclined  him  to  grant;  in  its  fullest  measure,  the  liberty 
needed  by  his  people  and  really  beneficial  to  their  interests. 

The  famous  letter  to  Colonel  Ney  was  thrown  before  the  excited 


He  Resents  Louis  Napoleo7i  s Arrogant  Counsels,  297 


public  opinion  of  Europe  at  the  yery  moment  the  Pope  was  prepar 
ing  and  maturing  at  Gaeta  a new  proclamation  of  amnesty,  and  such 
a plan  of  representative  government  as  might  help  him  to  remedy 
the  financial  ruin  and  moral  disorder  consequent  upon  the  reign  of 
]\Iazzini  and  the  whole  series  of  usurpations  that  had  followed  on  the 
granting  of  the  Fundamental  Statute. 

The  policy  of  the  English  government,”  says  Legge,  as  we  have 
seen  it  revealed  in  the  dispatches  of  Lord  Palmerston,  was  nearly 
identical  with  that  of  France,  namely,  the  restoration  of  the  Pope 
under  the  guarantee  of  a constitution  substantially  identical  with 
that  of  1848.” 

The  Pope’s  admirable  good  sense  enabled  him  to  see  from  the  first 
the  purpose  of  Louis  Napoleon.  He  was  pressed  by  the  court  of 
Naples  as  well  as  by  Count  Spaur  to  seek  the  protection  of  Aus- 
tria. But  that  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  He  had  many  measures  of 
church  administration  to  complete ; and  for  that  the  freedom  he  en- 
joyed in  the  kingdom  of  Naples  was  more  favorable  than  the  troubled 
atmosphere  of  Eome.  To  Naples  he  was  persuaded  to  go  in  Sep- 
tember, as  well  in  deference  to  the  solicitations  of  the  king  and 
queen,  as  with  the  hope  that  his  presence  in  the  capital  might  be 
productive  of  gi'eat  good  in  allaying  political  animosities.  The 
king,  who  throughout  the  Holy  Father’s  stay  in  his  dominions  really 
demeaned  himself  as  if  he  were  truly — what  he  called  himself — ^Hhe 
lieutenant  in  command  of  the  sovereign  pontiff’s  body-guard,”  accom- 
panied his  Holiness  with  every  demonstration  of  a reverence  that  was 
sincerely  felt,  and  bestowed  on  him  his  magnificent  palace  at  Portici. 

From  that  most  lovely  spot  Cardinal  Antonelli,  at  his  master’s 
command,  issued  the  following  letter  to  the  governors  of  the  pontifical 
provinces  : 

'^Most  Illustrious  ajid  Kevereisd  Sir: — A letter  which  as- 
sumes to  be  written  by  the  President  of  the  French  Eepublic  to 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Ney  in  Eome  has  given  increased  audacity  to  the 
band  of  libertines,  the  sworn  enemies  of  the  pontifical  government, 
and  rumors  are  everywhere  spread  about  that  it  is  intended  to  impose 
burdensome  conditions  on  the  Holy  See.  The  party  of  anarchy,  in 
consequence  of  these  expectations,  displays  an  insulting  attitude,  as 
it  believes  and  hopes  to  recover  itself  from  the  discomfiture  it  has  un- 
dergone. But  this  letter  has  not  any  official  character,  being  merely 
the  product  of  a private  correspondence.  I will  add,  also,  that  even 
by  the  French  authorities  in  Eome  it  is  viewed  with  displeasure. 


298 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


‘^The  Holy  Father  is  seriously  occupying  himself  about  giving  to 
his  subjects  such  reforms  as  he  believes  useful  to  their  true  and  solid 
good  ; nor  has  any  power  imposed  laws  upon  him  in  reference  to 
this,  he  aiming  to  attain  so  important  an  end  without  betraying  the 
duties  of  his  own  conscience.  Profit  by  this  intimation  to  contradict 
the  falsehood  propagated  to  the  prejudice  of  public  order,  and  satisfy 
every  one  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  all  the  powers  to  sustain  the 
liberty  and  independence  of  the  supreme  pontiff  for  the  peace  of 
Europe.  . . . 

“ PoRTici,  September  8,  1849.” 

It  was  from  that  same  enchanting  but  treacherous  shore  of  Portici, 
built  on  the  lava  and  cinders  which  buried  Herculaneum  and  Pom- 
peii, that  Pius  dated  the  new  temporary  constitution  for  the  Koman 
States,  the  act  of  amnesty  for  the  crimes  committed  under  the  re- 
public, and  the  encyclical  to  the  bishops  of  Italy,  quoted  in  part  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  The  perusal  of  these  documents  shows  how 
the  mind  of  the  Holy  Father  ran  continually  in  the  direction  of  for- 
giveness, peace,  progress,  and  every  improvement  which  could  in  any 
way  benefit  his  unhappy  people. 

In  concluding  the  motu pr opr io,  or  voluntary  grant  of  a constitu- 
tion, he  uses  this  significant  language:  ^^We  have  decreed  these 
measures  for  your  good,  and  beneath  the  eye  of  God.  They  are  such 
as  to  be  compatible  with  our  dignity,  and,  if  faithfully  carried  out, 
we  are  convinced  that  they  can  produce  results  which  must  approve 
themselves  to  all  wise  minds.  The  good  sense  of  all  among  you  who 
aspire  toward  what  is  best  with  a fervor  proportionate  to  the  ills  they 
have  endured,  shall  he  our  judge  in  this.  Above  all,  let  us  place 
our  trust  in  God,  who  even  in  fulfilling  the  decrees  of  his  justice,  is 
never  unmindful  of  his  mercy.” 

The  same  thoughtful  and  fatherly  tenderness,  tempered  with  the 
heartfelt  piety  of  the  man,  breathes  in  the  act  of  amnesty.  Disposed 
as  we  are  to  clemency  by  the  natural  bent  of  our  heart,”  he  says, 
^‘we  extend  our  forgiveness  once  more  to  the  erring  men,  who  were 
borne  away  into  treason  and  rebellion  by  the  seduction,  hesitation, 
and,  it  may  be,  the  very  weakness  of  others.  On  the  other  hand, 
bearing  in  mind  what  is  due  to  justice,  the  foundation  of  all  States, 
to  the  rights  of  others  overlooked  or  violated,  to  the  duty  incumbent 
on  us  of  protecting  you  from  a recurrence  of  such  evils  as  you  have 
endured,  and  to  the  obligation  of  saving  you  from  the  pernicious  in- 


The  Catholic  Religion  s Civilizing  Porjver,  299 


fluence  of  the  corrupters  of  all  morality,  the  enemies  of  that  Catholic 
religion,  . . . which  was  your  glory  and  marked  you  out  aa 

God’s  chosen  and  fayored  people — w^e  have  issued  this  act  of  am- 
nesty. . . 

But  it  is  at  the  conclusion  of  the  letter  to  the  bishops  of  Italy 
that  the  soul  of  the  pontiff  and  the  Christian  shines  in  all  its  beauty. 

‘‘It  is  impossible” — the  Holy  Father  affirms — “to  find  a speedier 

or  more  efficacious  remedy  for  social  evils  than  to  make  the  Catholic 

«/ 

faith  fiourish  once  more,  and  to  restore  the  Church  to  her  splendor 
throughout  Italy;  for  she  most  certainly  possesses  the  means  of 
succoring  human  infirmity  in  all  its  various  needs  and  in  every  social 
condition. 

“ To  he  convinced  of  this  it  may  suffice  to  recall  the  words  of  St. 
Augustine:*  ‘With  great  reason,  0 Catholic  Church,  thou  true 
mother  of  Christians,  dost  thou  preach  to  us  that  we  should  vrorship 
with  a pure  and  chaste  spirit  that  God  whose  possession  constitutes 
the  most  blissful  life  ; . . . hut,  moreover,  though  dost  so  com- 

bine the  love  and  charity  we  should  show  to  the  neighbor,  that  in 
thy  hands  are  the  powerful  remedies  for  every  ill  brought  on  men’s 
souls  by  sin.  Thou  teachest  and  trainest  human  nature  according 
to  the  maturity  of  the  soul  as  well  as  that  of  the  body,  becoming  a 
little  child  with  the  children,  growing  strong  Vv  ith  robust  youth,  and 
calm  with  those  of  advanced  age.  Thou  dost  cause  the  wife  to  pay 
her  husband  faithful  and  chaste  obedience,  . . . placing  the 

husband  at  the  head  of  the  family,  not  to  enable  him  to  make  a 
plaything  of  his  companion’s  wealmess,  but  that  he  may  be  guided 
by  the  law  of  true  love.  Thou  makest  children  subject  to  their 
parents  in  the  free  service  they  pay  them,  and  placest  the  parents 
above  them  in  a loving  and  tender  superiority.  Thou  bindest  brother 
to  brother  by  the  ties  of  a religious  affection  far  more  powerful  than 
the  ties  of  blood.  Thou  drawest  closer  the  bonds  of  kinship  and  affin- 
ity among  men,  by  hallowing  the  claims  of  nature  through  supernatu- 
ral charity.  Thou  subjectest  servants  to  their  masters  not  so  much 
from  the  necessity  of  their  condition,  as  from  a pleasing  sense  of 
duty  ; and  thou  biddest  masters  be  kind  to  their  servants,  for  the  sake 
of  the  common  master,  the  God  wffio  is  over  all ; and  inducest  them 
to  employ  persuasion  rather  than  force.  Thou  unitest  citizen  with 
citizen,  nation  with  nation,  and  man  to  man  all  over  the  earth,  not 


* lie  Moribua  GatTiolicm  Ecclesice,  1.  i.,  c.  30. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


300 

60  much  by  the  power  of  natural  sociability,  as  by  the  belief  in  that 
brotherhood  which  is  derived  from  a common  parentage.  Thou 
teachest  kings  to  aim  in  all  things  at  the  good  of  their  people ; and 
admonishes!  peoples  to  obey  their  princes  ; . . . clearly  show- 

ing that  all  things  are  not  due  to  all  persons,  but  that  to  all  should 
be  shown  charity  and  to  no  one  should  be  done  wrong.’ 

‘^It  is  thus  our  duty  as  well  as  yours,  0 venerable  brethren,  to 
face  every  fatigue,  to  brave  every  difficulty,  to  lavish  our  strength 
and  pastoral  zeal,  in  order  to  protect  against  every  danger  the  Cath- 
olic faith  of  the  people  of  Italy,  not  only  by  resisting  with  energy 
every  effort  made  by  impious  men  to  separate  our  country  from  the 
Church,  but  by  laboring  faithfully  to  bring  back  to  the  right  road 
those  who  have  already  been  led  astray. 

But  as  ^ every  best  gift,  and  every  perfect  gift,  is  from  above,’  let 
us  go  with  confidence  to  the  throne  of  grace,  and  there  unceasingly 
supplicate,  implore,  and  conjure  by  public  and  private  prayers  the 
father  of  light  and  mercy ; in  order  that,  through  the  merits  of  his 
only  Son  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  may  forget  our  sins,  and  merci- 
fully enlighten  all  minds  and  hearts ; that,  compelling  to  obedience 
all  rebellious  wills,  he  may  glorify  his  Church  by  new  victories,  and 
that  throughout  Italy  and  the  whole  world  the  peoples  wdio  serve  him 
many  increase  in  number  and  in  merit.’ 

‘‘From  Naples,  in  the  suburb  of  Portici,  December  8,  1849.” 

The  very  spot  on  which  he  writes  this  most  beautiful  address, 
seemed  to  inspire  him  with  that  spirit  of  far-seeing  wisdom,  and 
all-embracing,  all-healing  charity  so  much  needed  by  Italy  after 
the  recent  eruption  of  anti-social  and  anti-Christian  passions.  The 
palace  itself  in  which  he  received  a more  than  royal  hospitality,  the 
beautiful  palace  of  Charles  III.  (1707-13),  was  built  on  the  very  bed 
of  a lava  stream  from  overhanging  Vesuvius,  and  lava  blocks  formed 
a portion  of  the  materials  employed  for  its  construction.  It  seemed 
to  have  been  erected  on  that  ever  bright  and  smiling  shore,  above 
the  accumulated  ruins  of  past  disasters,  to  challenge  the  fury  of  the 
terrible  fires  that  slumbered  so  uneasily  beneath  the  soil. 

Pius  IX.  had  passed,  on  his  way  from  Naples  to  this  splendid 
abode,  a monument  erected  near  the  road-side,  warning  inhabit- 
ants and  strangers  alike  that  there  the  dreadful  eruption  of  1631 
had  exercised  its  ravages.  Who  that  has  visited  Naples  and  ap- 
proached these  awful  mountain  slopes,  has  not  stopped  to  read  tho 


Nature  ai'ound  Vesuvius  Suggests  Conciliation,  301 

inscription,  Posteri,  posteri,  vestra  res  agitur?  Yon  who  are  to 
come  after  us,  it  is  your  interest  that  we  plead  here  ! ’’  This  is  the 
first  line  of  the  earnest  and  pathetic  warning ; and  then  it  proceeds. 

To-day  evermore  holds  out  a light  to  guide  the  steps  of  to-mor- 
rov/.  Turn  and  look  upon  what  is  behind  you.  Twenty  times, 
since  the  sun  first  shone  in  the  heavens,  . . . has  Vesuvius 

burst  forth  in  flames  ! . . 

And  so,  Antonio  Snares  Messia,  governor  of  Naples  at  the  time 
of  the  dread  calamity  which  caused  v/idespread  destruction  and  the 
death  of  many  imprudent  persons,  warns  from  this  monumental 
stone  princes,  nobles,  and  peasants  who  persist  in  building  their 
homes  within  the  sweep  of  the  devastating  fires,  and  in  cultivating  the 
oft- wasted  fields,  that  they  must  fly  for  their  lives  at  the  first  motion 
of  the  earthquake  and  the  first  muttering  of  the  volcanic  thunders. 

There  was  another  monument  near  at  hand  which  had  also  its 
timely  lesson  for  Pius,  preparing  as  he  was  to  return  to  his  own 
after  the  so  recent  convulsion.  There  is  in  a little  wayside  oratory 
a statue  of  St.  Januarius,  of  which  popular  tradition  relates,  that 
amid  the  terrors  of  one  of  the  most  frightful  eruptions  on  record 
the  population  of  city  and  country-side  crowded  in  dismay  and  sup- 
plication arotind  the  image  of  him  who,  in  life,  had  been  their 
bishop  and  loving  pastor.  The  lava  in  one  mighty  stream  was  even 
then  pouring  down  toward  them.  But,  at  their  cries  for  mercy,  the 
statue,  it  is  said,  turned  its  head  toward  the  mountain,  and  lifted 
its  arm  in  sign  of  command.  The  lava  stood  still  in  its  course,  and 
the  volcano  became  hushed  and  quiet. 

Such  is  the  legend.  For  the  exiled  pontill  the  land  and  its  mon- 
uments had  a lesson  he  was  not  slow  in  laying  to  heart.  He  could 
study  and  admire  on  the  earth  torn  again  and  again  by  the  throes  of 
the  mighty  volcanic  forces,  and  seared,  age  after  age,  by  streams  of 
liquid  fire,  how  the  silent  but  no  less  mighty  influence  of  nature 
filled  up  the  rents  where  they  were  widest  and  deepest,  and  hastened 
to  cover  their  jagged  sides  with  verdure,  with  the  living  beauty  of 
vine  and  shrub  and  flower.  Not  that  alone ; but  where  the  lava 
stream  had  poured  resistless  downward,  consuming  vineyards,  olive 
groves,  harvests,  the  lordly  forests  of  oak  and  chestnut,  blotting  out 
the  green  pasture  and  the  corn-fields,  the  shepherd’s  cot,  the  smiling 
and  populous  village,  and  the  splendid  abodes  of  wealth  and  royalty, 
there,  when  the  brief  period  permitted  by  the  Creator  to  the  reign 
of  all  that  is  violent  and  destructive  had  come  to  an  end,  on  that 


302 


Life  of  Pope  Pins  IX. 


same  blackened  lava  and  blighted  earth  nature  once  more  would 
liasten  to  weave  her  vesture  of  life  and  beauty,  covering  up  beneath 
its  green  folds,  as  beneath  the  sweet  mantle  of  love  and  mercy,  the 
wrath,  the  ruin,  the  desolation  of  the  past. 

And  are  not  there  in  the  moral  world,  where  men’s  passions  devas- 
tate as  blindly  and  wantonly  as  the  earthquake  and  the  volcano,  are 
there  not  sweet  and  silent  and  resistlessly  healing  agencies  and 
forces,  which  are  potent  to  fill  up  the  rents  made  by  the  mad  up- 
heavals of  political  rage,  and  to  obliterate  the  deepest  wounds  left  on 
our  earth,  beneath  the  silent  growth  of  all  the  social  charities  ? So 
Pius  resolved  that  his  love  and  fatherly  tenderness,  with  the  aid  of 
his  all-powerful  grace  whose  work  he  had  to  do,  should  make  the 
earth  forget  her  late  travail  and  agony.  Yes,  it  was  God’s  w'ork ; 
and  he  would  do  it.  He  would  not  withhold  his  hand  from  bind- 
ing up  and  soothing  and  healing. 

The  Neapolitans,  these  terrible  and  perpetual  children  of  a vol- 
canic clime,  blessed  St.  Januarius  for  the  protection  afforded  in  their 
need,  and  devoutly  kissed  the  hand  that  had  been  miraculously 
raised  to  arrest  the  elemental  wrath ; but  that  unruly  child-people 
would  break  off  that  same  arm  to-morrow,  and  shatter  the  statue  to 
pieces,  and  curse  the  very  name  of  their  benefactor,  if  Januarius 
should  fail  to  rescue  them  miraculously  from  another  peril. 

Must  God,  who  made  the  land,  and  who  still  cares  for  the  way- 
ward, passionate  race  tliat  tills  it,  must  he  too  grow  weary  of  them 
and  give  them  up  as  victims  to  the  fury  of  flame  and  wind  and  wave, 
because  they  make  an  ill  use  of  their  o^vn  faculties  and  of  all  the 
gifts  so  lavishly  bestowed  on  them  ? Nor  will  the  loving  heart  of 
him,  who,  under  God,  is  shepherd  and  father  over  all  the  family  of 
Adam,  be  weary  in  beginning  anew  his  labor  of  love,  of  patient  reno- 
vation, and  merciful  forbearance  on  that  land  of  Italy,  that  land  of 
Kome  so  privileged  and  so  guilty. 

So  all  through  the  autumn  and  the  sunny  winter  months  Pius 
IX.  yearns  to  be  back  again  among  his  people,  and  his  mind,  despite 
the  unceasing  solicitude  demanded  by  the  Churches  of  both  hemi- 
spheres, ever  contemplates  how  he  can  best  repair  and  restore  the 
social  and  religious  ruin  left  behind  by  the  revolution. 

And  as  the  early  spring  poured  forth  all  its  wealth  of  beauty,  its 
peace,  its  soothing  music  and  loveliness  over  the  Campanian  shores 
and  the  Pontine  Marshes,  and  the  now  blooming  Campagna,  Pius 
IX.  was  on  his  way  to  the  Eternal  City. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


Pius  IX.  once  moke  in  St.  Petek’s — The  Te  Deum  and  the 
Fkench  Akmy — The  Pope  takes  up  his  Residence  in  the 
Vatican — Mazzini  in  Switzekland,  still  Conspiking — 
Attempt  to  Bukn  the  Quikinal — Hopeless  Task  oe  Pius 
IX. — The  Pope  Oensuked  fok  not  gkanting  a XJniyek- 
SAL  Amnesty — Mazzini’s  Ckusade  against  the  Catholic 
PowEKS — Its  Success — Cakdinal  Antonelli’s  Unity  of 
PuKPOSE  with  Pius  IX. 


1850. 


LITTLE  after  four  o’clock  on  the  afternoon  of  April  the  12th, 


-AX-  1850,  Pius  IX.  entered  the  city  of  Rome.  The  reader  ac- 
quainted with  the  Holy  Father’s  personal  character,  with  the  mag- 
netic attraction  his  goodness  of  heart  exercised  on  the  real  people,  as 
well  as  upon  the  persons  who  approached  him  habitually,  will  not  he 
surprised  to  learn  that  great  and  sincere  as  was  the  enthusiasm 
which  greeted  him  on  his  way  from  Naples  to  his  own  frontier,  it 
was  far  greater  and  deeper  among  his  own  people. 

The  revolution  had  been  recruited  from  among  the  middle  class  in 
the  cities,  the  scum  of  the  laboring  populations,  the  idlers,  and  all 
the  vagabonds,  adventurers,  cut-throats,  and  needy  politicians  from 
all  parts  of  Italy;  the  country  people,  the  agriculturists,  and  the 
upper  classes  everywhere  had  been  oppressed  by  the  demagogues, 
and  welcomed  the  Pope’s  return  as  the  beginning  of  a new  era  of 
peace,  prosperity,  and  restoration. 

Englishmen  and  Americans,  Protestant  generally,  whether  resi- 
dent or  traveling  in  Italy,  chose  the  society  of  the  advanced  Liberals, 
the  members  of  the  defeated  party,  heard  only  what  these  said,  saw 
what  these  made  them  see,  and  consigned  to  their  memory  or  to 
paper  this  very  partial  view  of  things.  It  was  unavoidable  that  men 
like  Mr.  Cass,  Mr.  Freeborn,  Mr.  Cochrane,  and  so  many  others  like 
them,  who  sympathized  with  the  lost  cause,  should  not  feel  or  notice 
tlie  pulsations  of  the  Roman  popular  heart  as  it  throbbed  among  the 
rural  populations  at  Velleti,  or  in  the  Campagna,  and  who  fairly- 


303 


304 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


were  beyond  themselves  with  delight  when  they  beheld  in  theii 
midst  the  pontiff  and  prinee,  the  very  excess  of  whose  goodness  had 
driven  him  a fugitive  from  Kome.  That  in  Rome  itself,  on  the  day 
of  the  Pope’s  return,  the  middle  class  who  had  formed  the  civic 
guard,  and  the  carabineers,  and  the  volunteers  under  Durando,  and 
that  motley  crowd  who  had  formed  the  following  of  Ciceruacchio 
and  the  public  of  the  clubs,  that  they  should  have  held  aloof,  or  put 
on  a scowl,  or  muttered  curses,  or  threatened  retaliation  when  they 
beheld  the  pontifical  cortege  enter  Rome  and  pass  on  to  St.  Peter’s 
amid  the  ranks  of  French  soldiers,  was  to  be  expected.  These  were 
the  men  with  whom  the  American  minister  and  the  English  consnl 
had  always  associated,  before  the  flight  of  the  Pope  and  since.  And 
it  is  their  views,  and  sentiments,  and  hopes,  and  prophecies,  that  we 
read  in  the  dispatches  and  private  documents  emanating  from  all 
Anglo-Saxon  sources  not  Catholic. 

Pius  IX.  was  too  clear-sighted  and  high-minded  not  to  know  that 
his  welcome  to  his  capital,  escorted  by  foreign  troops,  and  in  the 
midst  of  a population  so  deeply  compromised  by  their  active  share 
in  the  violence,  the  plunder,  and  bloodshed  of  the  revolution,  could 
be  neither  enthusiastic  nor  unanimous.  The  true  Romans,  the  well- 
born, the  religious,  those  loyal  to  the  Church  and  her  pontiff,  those 
who  had  suffered  from  Sterbim,  and  Ciceruacchio,  and  Zambianchi ; 
all  who  had  lost  by  the  triumph  of  Mazzini,  and  had  nothing  to  gain 
by  change,  all  these  awaited  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Father  in  St. 
Peter’s,  the  presence  of  the  chief  shepherd  in  the  place  appointed  for 
the  meeting  of  his  flock.  What  a sight  was  there  ! 

Persons  most  eminent  in  social  position,  persons  of  every  nation- 
ality, Protestants  as  well  as  Catholic,  agree  that  in  the  dense  multi- 
tude which  filled  the  vast  Basilica  to  its  utmost  capacity  and  covered 
the  great  square  outside,  there  was  scarcely  an  eye  that  was  not 
moistened  when  the  august  exile  appeared,  his  kindly  face  lit  up 
with  more  than  the  old  sunny  smile,  betraying  an  emotion  which  all 
shared  with  him. 

He  came  to  the  altar  of  St.  Peter  to  offer  up  a solemn  Te  Deum, 
As  he  passed  along  amid  the  kneeling  multitude,  and  blessed  them 
all  as  he  passed,  looking  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  as  if  his 
whole  heart  went  out  to  each  one  there  with  that  fatherly  blessing, 
what  a shout  of  welcome  would  have  gone  up,  had  it  not  been  for 
that  dread  and  loved  Presence  before  which  even  the  pontiff’s  soul 
was  all  awe  and  adoration  ! 


The  TJia7iksgiving  and  the  French  Soldiers,  30 5 


The  Sacred  College  was  there  in  attendance  on  its  revered  chief, 
with  all  the  clergy  of  Kome,  the  magistracy,  and  the  French  general, 
Baraguay  d’Hilliers,  and  his  staff,  the  elite  of  the  French  troops  as 
well,  men  taught  from  infancy  to  reverence  the  person  of  the  su- 
preme pastor  of  their  Church,  and  to  whom  the  perils  just  incurred 
in  his  cause  made  him  doubly  dear.  Pope,  cardinals,  prelates, 
priests,  and  people — that  army  and  its  officers — all  looked  only  to  the 
triumph  of  the  present  hour,  and  thought  not  of  future  possibilities. 
Beneath  that  glorious  dome,  before  that  altar  on  which  throned,  be- 
hind the  sacramental  vail,  the  King  of  kings,  all  knelt  with  the  pon- 
tiff and  the  venerable  circle  of  cardinals  and  bishops,  to  adore  him 
who  casteth  down  and  liftetli  up,  and  then  rang  out  in  the  clear  full 
tones  of  Pius  IX.  the  first  verse  of  the  Te  Deum : '^Thee,  God,  we 
praise ; thee.  Lord,  we  all  proclaim  !”  It  was  taken  up  by  the  mul- 
titude inside  and  outside,  with  a unity,  an  enthusiasm  that  lifted  up 
the  soul  and  bore  it  heavenward  on  a sea  of  triumphant  song. 

At  the  verse  Te  ergo  qucesumuSy  ‘^Thee,  then,  we  beseech,  succor 
thine  own  servants,  whom  thou  hast  redeemed  with  thy  blood,”  it  is 
prescribed  that  all  should  kneel.  Pope,  prelates,  and  people.  The 
general’s  word  of  command  rang  forth,  the  clash  of  arms  sounded  as 
the  troops  grounded  their  arms,  and  bent  one  knee,  adoring  and 
praying  with  the  prostrate  thousands.  There  were  many  there  who 
besought  for  France,  far  away,  and  her  forty  millions  of  brave 
hearts  so  prone  to  every  lieroic  impulse,  and  her  chivalrous  soldiery, 
the  unselfish  defenders  of  every  great  cause,  God’s  best  blessing  and 
ever-present  aid.  And  there  are  those,  too,  who  persist  in  believing 
that  tlie  blessing  thus  besought  came  on  France  in  the  hour  of  her 
need,  when  it  most  behooves  a great  nation  to  be  greatest,  in  defeat 
and  disaster.  . . . May  it  be  continued  and  increased  ! Chris- 

tendom, whicl)  owes  so  much  to  France,  in  spite  of  the  blundering 
ambition  of  Bourbons  and  Bonapartes,  and  the  moral  blight  of  Vol- 
tairianism, cannot  afford  to  see  her  deposed  forever  from  her  glo- 
rious leadership  among  the  nations. 

That  snch  w^as  the  blessing  fervently  invoked  by  Pius  IX.,  when, 
at  the  end  of  the  sublime  hymn  of  thanksgiving,  he  pronounced  on 
the  prostrate  multitude  the  solemn  benediction  in  the  name  of  the 
Triune  God,  wo  firmly  believe.  For  twenty  years  more  the  French 
flag  was  to  wave  in  Rome,  the  symbol  of  the  faith  and  love  of  the 
nation  for  the  common  father  of  Christians ; brave,  true-hearted 
officers,  and  honest  soldiers  were  to  surround  the  throne  of  Pius  IX. 

20 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


306 

with  a loyal  and  devout  homage,  while  the  dark  man  who  had 
usurped  the  control  of  France’s  destinies,  was  vainly  struggling  to 
reconcile  the  faith  he  had  sworn  to  Young  Italy  with  the  will  of 
the  Catholic  world.  A French  force,  during  this  long  interval,  was 
to  oppress  the  Holy  See  with  the  imperial  protection,  compelling 
Pius  IX.  to  passive  resistance  and  vain  protestations  while  Piedmont 
and  the  revolution  were  wresting  province  after  province  from  the 
patrimony  of  the  Church  ; and  when  the  treason  and  sacrilege  were 
consummated,  the  chief  culprit  in  this  long  course  of  spoliation  was 
himself  to  he  stricken  down,  the  arms  falling  involuntarily  from  the 
paralyzed  hands  of  his  proud  armies,  and  he,  like  his  uncle,  driven 
from  his  throne  to  die  in  exile. 

To  the  Quirinal  palace,  from  which  within  half  a century  three 
popes  hearing  the  name  of  Pius  had  been  hurried  into  exile,  after 
suffering  there  the  most  sacrilegous  violence,  Pius  IX.  never  re- 
turned. It  was  connected  in  his  mind  with  the  murder  of  Eossi, 
and  stained  with  the  blood  of  his  noble  and  learned  young  secre- 
tary ; the  very  sight  of  it  would  recall  the  unnatural  ingratitude  of 
his  own  subjects.  The  Holy  Father  and  his  Secretary  of  State  took 
up  their  residence  in  the  Vatican  palace,  near  the  tombs  of  the  holy 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul.  There  were  in  the  evening  congratula- 
tions from  the  diplomatic  body,  from  the  Sacred  College,  the  muni- 
cipal authorities,  the  Koman  nobility,  and  the  Catholic  foreigners 
who  had  flocked  to  Kome  for  the  occasion.  There  were  illuminations 
too.  Christian  Eome  rejoiced  over  the  restoration  of  Christ’s  vicar 
to  his  see  and  his  flock  ; anti-Christian  Eome  was  still  conspiring. 
“Mazzini  had  gone  to  Switzerland,  and  here,  secure  from  danger, 
he  contrived  to  associate  with  himself  many  fellow-fugitives.  These, 
with  the  consent  of  such  of  the  deputies  as  had  accompanied  him 
into  exile,  he  formed  into  the  spectre  of  a government,  himself  re- 
suming the  rank  and  power  which  he  had  voluntarily  resigned  in 
the  hour  of  danger.  He  now  preached  a crusade — a Holy  Alliance 
as  it  was  termed — in  which  refugees  of  other  nations  were  invited  to 
unite  against  the  Pope,  the  French,  the  Austrians,  even  the  consti- 
tutional Liberals,  against  all,  in  fact,  who  did  not  accept  the  pro- 
gramme of  'Young  Italy.’  Thus  the  follies  of  Mazzini,  and  the 
unconciliatory  policy  pursued  by  the  military  rulers  of  Italy,  com- 
bined to  prepare  the  way  for  new  troubles  for  that  much-enduring, 
much-afflicted  country.  ” * 


* Legge,  ii.  858. 


Powerless  to  Conciliate. 


307 


On  the  very  day  of  the  Pope’s  entry,  an  attempt  was  made  to  fire 
Liie  Quirinal.  This  was  only  one  indication  of  the  spirit  which  the 
revolution  had  bequeathed  to  Some  and  its  ruler.  It  was  a proof 
also  ^^of  the  lawless  fanaticism  of  those  political  jugglers,  the 
lepers  of  all  parties — ^ veritable  harpies,’  as  Mazzini  himself  desig- 
nated them — who  sully  all  they  touch,  and  who  still  swarmed  in 
Pome.”* 

The  new  act  of  amnesty  had  been  already  promulgated,  and  the 
Holy  Father  had  been  only  waiting  for  his  return  to  the  capital  to 
supplement  it  by  a fuller  measure  of  clemency.  But  such  acts  as 
this  fiendish  attempt  at  incendiarism,  and  others  aimed  at  the  lives 
of  the  opponents  of  revolution,  could  have  no  other  effect  than  to 
make  the  sovereign  pause  and  reflect.  Any  one  who  will  remember 
how  generously  he  had  pardoned  Galletti  (see  pages  100,  101),  and 
how  the  latter  repaid  his  benefactor,  will  not  he  disposed  to  condemn 
Pius  IX.  for  not  enlarging  too  suddenly  the  circle  of  offenses  em- 
braced in  this  second  amnesty. 

In  truth,  no  mercy,  no  kindness,  no  possible  measure  of  liberality 
or  progress  could  soften  or  conciliate  not  alone  the  ‘Hiarpies”  and 
and  the  ^‘lepers”  of  the  Mazzinian  following,  but  the  leaders  them- 
selves, the  men  who  now  more  than  ever  had  resolved  to  pursue 
darkly,  silently,  but  unrelentingly  the  atrocious  plans  of  Mazzini, 
Galletti,  and  Ricciardi. 

It  is  here  that  the  task  of  Pius  IX.  became  hopeless  and  dispirit- 
ing. The  lava  torrent  which,  but  a few  weeks  ago,  carried  fire, 
death  and  desolation  into  tracts  that  bloomed  like  a paradise,  will 
cool  down  by  degrees,  and  the  neighboring  verdure  will  slowly  creep 
over  the  horrid  mass,  and  make  the  beholder  forget  how  it  once 
boiled  and  burned,  moving  over  the  fair  earth  like  a living  curse 
from  hell.  The  fierce  fire  of  anti-Christian  hate  never  cools  or  stops 
in  the  bosoms  of  men  who  have  been  baptized  in  Christ’s  name,  and 
tasted  all  his  divinest  gifts,  but  who  have  surrendered  their  spirits 
to  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Evil  One.  We  see  the  skillful  gardener 
every  day  in  our  great  city  parks  covering  masses  of  naked,  hideous 
rock  with  creeping  and  flowering  plants  so  beautiful,  that  one  knows 
not  which  to  admire  most  of  the  art  of  man  or  the  infinite  resources 
of  nature.  The  lifeless  rock  resists  not  the  efforts  of  the  husband- 
man, but  rather  takes  kindly  to  the  sheltering  and  beautifying  em- 
brace of  vine  and  shrub.  What  power  can  overcome  the  stubborn. 


* Legge,  ii.  365. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


308 

repellant  will  of  hard-hearted  man  ? The  very  name  of  the  Savionr, 
the  very  sight  of  his  cross,  has  only  the  magic  to  move  Young  Italy 
to  blasphemy  and  rage. 

Speaking  of  the  middle  classes,  the  m.ost  conservative  of  the  revo- 
lutionists, Mr.  Freeborn,  the  English  consul  in  Rome,  says  of  them  at 
this  very  time  : R.  . . . does  not  knoAV  the  feelings  of  the 

middle  classes  here,  for  he  does  not  mix  with  them.  I do,  and  I can 
assure  you  that  in  three  hours  after  the  French  left  us  there  would 
be  a sanguinary  revolution.  Money,  arms,  organization,  everything 
is  provided.  The  people  of  Rome  are  determined  not  to  endure  ec- 
clesiastical government,  and  to  set  an  example  which  will  effectually 
deter  any  priest  from  exercising  lay  functions.’’ 

Thus  it  was  not  the  lava  far  away  from  its  source,  the  lava  cooled 
and  asking  of  the  green  earth  around  to  be  taken  into  communion 
with  it,  that  Pius  IX.  and  his  government  were  working  upon  : he 
was  trying — an  impossible  task — to  make  the  plant  take  root  and  the 
sweet  flowers  of  brotherly  love  and  peace  to  bloom  amid  the  very 
crater  of  Vesuvius ! 

By  degrees  Pius  IX.  extended  the  benefit  of  the  amnesty  to  one 
class  after  another.  In  France,  in  England,  and  the  IJnitcd  States 
the  public  press  was  but  too  ready  to  condemn  the  Holy  Father  for 
not  granting  an  unconditional  pardon  to  all  who  had  been  concerned 
in  the  late  revolution,  thereby  recalling  all  of  them  to  Rome  and  the 
Papal  States.  On  reflection,  this  must  have  even  then  appeared  to 
the  writers  themselves  an  extravagant  demand.  At  the  distance  of 
nearly  thirty  years,  and  with  the  lessons  of  domestic  rebellion  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  Frenchmen,  Englishmen,  and  Americans  alike,  they 
must  acknowledge,  that  the  blame  then  cast  on  the  pontiff  and  his 
administration  of  the  States  lately  under  a revolutionary  government 
was  a flagrant  injustice,  and  the  unlimited  clemency  advocated,  an 
unlimited  absurdity. 

How  did  republican  France  deal  with  the  leaders  of  the  Com- 
mune ? What  clemency  did  England  extend  to  so  many  deluded 
young  Irishmen,  impelled  into  the  ranks  of  Fenianism  by  the  memory 
of  centuries  of  political  wrong,  and  the  ardent  desire  of  restoring  their 
country’s  independence  ? Had  the  Sepoys  of  India  been  more  blood- 
thirsty, treacherous,  or  savage  than  the  twenty  thousand  men  who 
surrounded  the  Quirinal  on  the  IGth  and  17th  of  Xovember,  and  set  fire 
to  the  residence  of  their  sovereign  and  benefactor  ? or  the  mob  that 
murdered  and  pillaged  and  02:)pressed  the  innocent,  and  sullied  every- 


Clemency  of  the  Holy  Father. 


309 


thing  holy  in  Rome  for  months  ? or  the  handed  and  half-authorized 
assassins  who  filled  the  entire  Roman  territory  with  blood  and  terror  ? 

We,  Americans,  boast — and  rightfully — that  once  our  gigantic 
civil  war  ended,  not  a life  was  sacrificed  for  a merely  political  offense. 
Most  true.  But  the  disabilities  incurred  for  these  same  offenses  have 
not  yet  been  removed  from  thousands  upon  thousands,  nor  are  they 
likely  to  be  for  some  time  yet.  ISTor,  in  the  States  which  seceded, 
have  the  deep,  fearful  and  ruinous  effects  of  ^‘carpet-bag”  misrule 
and  domination  come  to  an  end  after  twelve  years  of  misery  and  suf- 
fering to  millions  of  freemen  and  fellow-citizens. 

Surely  much  more  could  be  said  on  this  subject,  and  to  the  point, 
too,  in  explanation  (of  justification  there  is  no  need)  of  the  conduct 
of  the  Holy  Father  and  his  government  during  the  period  imme- 
diately following  his  restoration. 

It  is  not,  perhaps,  generally  known  that  not  one  drop  of  blood  was 
shed  for  purely  political  offenses,  and  that  the  exceptions  to  the  act 
of  amnesty  were  much  less  odious  than  many  of  the  exceptions  to 
the  unparalleled  clemency  of  our  own  government.  Englishmen  and 
Americans  (and  h fortiori  French  Liberals),  blinded  by  their  anti- 
Catholic  prejudices,  forgot  the  beam  in  their  own  eye,  and  labored 
by  persistent  outcries  to  excite  the  horror  of  the  civilized  world  at 
the  mote  in  the  Pope’s  eye.  Even  at  this  hour  they  find  it  politic  or 
convenient  to  forget  the  horrors  of  Bismark’s  religious  persecutions 
and  the  rigor  of  his  prisons,  the  frightful  oppression  of  Catholic 
Poland,  and  the  untold  sufferings  and  life-long  agony  of  the  multi- 
tudes of  heroic  men  and  women — guilty  only  of  being  true  to  their 
conscience,  their  God,  and  their  country — who  people  the  frozen 
wilds  of  Siberia,  to  read  us  lectures,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  on 
the  intolerance  of  clericalism. 

Had  the  Pope  been  left  fr^e  to  follow  the  promptings  of  his  own 
fatherly  heart,  he  would  have  performed  miracles  of  devotion  and 
generosity  to  heal  up  every  wound,  and  repair  the  financial  ruin,  the 
disasters  brought  upon  every  interest  and  industry.  He  should  have 
been  protected  in  his  noble  endeavor  to  make  his  people  forget  the 
disappointments  and  heartburnings  of  the  past  in  the  united  effort 
at  making  the  best  use  of  present  opportunities.  But  how  was  it  in 
reality  ? 

We  have  just  seen  that  Mazzini  had  profited  by  the  hospitality  of 
Switzerland,  to  reorganize  there  a “Roman  Republican  Govern- 
ment,” and  to  begin  “a  crusade — a holy  alliance — in  which  refugees 


310  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

of  other  nations  were  invited  to  unite  against  the  Pope,  the  French, 
and  the  Austrians.” 

One  might  be  disposed  to  think  that  this  shadowy  government 
proclaimed  by  Mazzini  at  Lausanne,  was  as  harmless  as  the  spectral 
appearances  above  the  Brocken.  So,  perchance,  it  was  ; but  not  so 
the  crusade  against  the  Pope,  the  French,  and  the  Austrians.” 
Mazzini  had  at  his  back  the  boldest  and  most  unscrupulous  spirits  of 
Young  Germany  and  Young  Europe.  The  history  of  the  downfall 
of  Austria  in  1866,  and  of  the  conspiracy  which  led  to  her  losing 
Lombardy  in  1859,  has  only  been  partially  written  : its  true  '‘inte- 
riorness ” still  remains  to  be  disclosed.  So  with  the  fall  of  France 
in  1870,  and  with  the  rise  of  Piedmont  and  Prussia,  which  led  to  the 
fall  of  the  Pope.  The  next  decade  will  see  Turkey  blotted  out  from 
Europe,  and  Austria  reduced  to  the  kingdom  of  Hungary,  and 
Franpe  and  England  further  crippled  in  their  influence  and  power 
and  territory.  They  said  of  Voltaire,  during  the  reign  of  the  God- 
dess Peason : "He  has  not  lived  to  see  what  we  have  done,  but  he 
has  done  all  that  we  see.”  Mazzini  did  live  to  see  France  crushed, 
Austria  crippled  and  threatened,  the  kingdom  of  Naples  blotted  from 
the  political  map  of  Europe,  as  well  as  the  temporal  sovereignty  of 
the  Holy  See.  He  was  not  condemned  to  live  and  behold  the  moral 
triumph  of  Pius  IX.  in  May  and  June,  1877. 

This  new  crusade  against  the  Catholic  powers  we  shall  watch  to 
the  end  of  this  book,  with  the  steady  progress  of  Piedmontism. 
There  is  another  personage  who  is  to  be  henceforward  almost  as  con- 
spicuous as  Pius  IX.  himself ; their  two  figures  become  inseparable 
to  the  eye  of  the  historian ; that  personage  is  Cardinal  Antonelli. 
He  is  identified  with  all' the  public  acts  and  all  the  remarkable  utter- 
ances of  the  remainder  of  this  pontificate  down  to  November,  1876. 
It  is  not  that  the  great  minister  absorbed  in  his  own  superior  genius 
or  transcendent  ability  the  Pope  whom  he  served  and  loved.  Pius 
IX.  is  not  a man  to  yield  to  any  minister,  no  matter  how  surpass- 
ing his  talents,  the  control  of  the  great  administrative  measures  in 
Church  or  State,  or  his  own  principal  share  in  every  act  or  docu- 
ment for  which  he  is  responsible  to  posterity.  It  is  true  that  his  is 
not  the  little-mindedness  of  some  persons  in  authority,  who  can 
never  allow  their  inferiors  to  have  any  will  or  free  action  of  their 
own.  Pius  IX.  has  too  much  sense  to  pretend  to  do  everything  him- 
self ; and  no  one  more  generously  leaves  to  his  inferiors  both  a per- 
fect freedom  in  their  own  department,  and  the  fullest  credit  for  sue- 


Cardinal  Antonelli  and  Pius  IX,  3 1 1 

cess  achieved.  But  he  is  too  conscientious  to  allow  any  one  to  usurp 
any  part  of  the  authority  belonging  to  himself  as  a temporal  ruler, 
or,  still  more,  as  the  head  of  the  Church. 

K one  examines  the  series  of  public  acts  or  remarkable  public  doc- 
uments signed  or  countersigned  by  the  great  Secretary  of  State,  it 
will  be  seen  that  his  policy  in  temporal  matters  consisted  in  vindicat- 
ing with  extraordinary  clearness  and  ability  the  right  of  the  Holy 
Father  to  the  continual  support  of  all  Christendom,  and  in  com- 
bating the  errors  which  assail  the  necessity  of  his  temporal  power, 

' and  the  fullness  of  his  spiritual  authority,  as  well  as  the  doctrines 
subversive  of  the  supernatural  and  the  social  orders. 

Cardinal  Antonelli  saw  with  the  clearness  of  intuition  the  com- 
bination and  conspiracy  formed  against  Catholicity  and  the  Holy 
See  ; he  never  for  a moment  hesitated  about  the  personal  character, 
the  loose  principles,  and  the  ultimate  purpose  of  Louis  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  ; about  the  perfect  understanding  which  existed  between 
him  and  Count  Cavour  and  Lord  Palmerston,  concerning  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  pontifical  sovereignty.  He  was  also  fully  alive  to  the 
anti-Catholic  hostility  which  impelled  all  three  to  encourage  every 
movement  tending  to  weaken  Austria,  and  to  leave  Spain  more  and 
more  the  prey  of  her  own  Progressists  and  Kadicals. 

With  these  principles,  tendencies,  and  policy.  Cardinal  Antonelli 
was  at  war  before  he  left  Gaeta  and  Portici ; and  his  remaining  life 
at  the  Vatican  was  one  long  uncompromising  struggle  with  them. 
Keeping  this  fact  in  view,  one  will  be  enabled  to  see  the  diplomatic 
career  of  the  great  statesman  in  its  unity  and  consistency,  and  will 
find  singular  pleasure  and  instruction  from  the  study  of  the  many 
weighty  documents  emanating  jointly  from  the  Holy  Father  and 
himself. 

We  must  now  hasten  over  the  remaining  years  of  this  memorable 
pontificate,  dwelling  only  on  the  great  acts  and  events  that  form  an 
epoch  in  it,  and  grouping  rapidly  around  these  the  contemporary 
political  and  ecclesiastical  occurrences. 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 


1850  A Yeab  of  Jubilee — Beatificatioi^  of  Ameeicais’  Saints 
— Restoeation  of  the  English  Hieeaechy — Legislative 
Refoems  of  the  Catholic  Powees — Piedmont  Inaugueates 
AN  Eea  of  Peesecution — Peepaeatoet  Labors  on  the  Im- 
maculate Conception — Proclamation  of  the  Dogma — 
Splendid  Hospitality  of  the  Pope — Gratitude  of  the 
Bishops — Private  Life  of  Pius  IX. — His  Poverty — His 
Love  of  Prayer — His  Devotion  to  Business — His  Affa- 
bility— His  Heroic  and  Unbounded  Charity. 


1850-1855. 


HE  year  1850  v^as  a year  of  jubilee  for  the  whole  Catholic 


-L  world,  and  the  tidings  of  the  Pope^s  return  to  the  Eternal 
City,  the  sense  of  security  arising  from  the  presence  of  a French 
army,  and,  aboTC  all,  the  desire  of  showing  reverence  and  sympathy 
to  the  Holy  Father,  attracted  such  crowds  of  pilgrims  to  Rome  as 
had  not  been  seen  there  in  the  memory  of  man.  Every  preparation 
was  made  by  the  papal  government  for  the  reception  of  these  multi- 
tudes of  strangers — cardinals,  prelates,  nobles  of  every  degree,  vicing 
with  each  other  in  lavishing  on  their  brethren  from  eveiy  land 
the  unwearied  attentions  and  care  which  genuine  charity  alone  in- 
spires. Nor  did  the  Holy  Father’s  presence  ever  fail  to  grace 
these  assemblages  when  all  were  made  to  feel  that  Rome  is  not  a 
foreign  city  in  a strange  land,  but  the  dwelling  of  the  common 
parent.  The  veneration,  the  generosity  testified  to  him  after  his 
recent  trials,  were  most  sweet  to  that  loving  nature,  after  all  the 
bitter  experiences  of  the  past  four  years. 

The  summer  and  autumn  furnished  him  with  timely  opportunities 
for  manifesting  anew  his  old  love  for  the  Church  of  America,  in  the 
beatification  of  the  venerable  Peter  Claver,  the  apostle  of  New 
Grenada,  and  venerable  Mariana  de  Paredes  y Flores,  ‘Hhe  Lily  of. 
Quito,”  and  the  first  cousin  and  contemporary  of  St.  Rose  of  Lima. 

The  beatification  of  Peter  Claver  took  place  on  July  the  16th. 


312 


Beatification  of  American  Saints, 


312 


Beside  the  exquisite  pleasure  it  gave  the  Holy  Father  to  snow  there- 
by his  deep  and  affectionate  interest  in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  a land 
where  he  had  once  hoped  to  spend  his  whole  life  in  continuing  the 
heroic  labors  of  Claver  and  his  brethren,  this  splendid  festivity,  in 
which  all  Rome,  and  the  pilgrims  of  all  nations  assembled  in  Rome, 
took  an  active  part,  was  also  a public  mark  of  the  sovereign  pon- 
tiff's increased  regard  for  the  Society  of  Jesus.  During  the  troublous 
spring  and  summer  of  1848  he  had  been  forced  to  advise  the  Jesuits 
in  Rome  and  elsewhere  in  the  Pontifical  States  to  close  their  houses 
and  disappear  from  public  notice.  Once  at  Gaeta,  Pius  IX.  sum- 
moned to  him  Father  Roothaan,  the  General  of  the  Society,  and  be- 
stowed on  him  and  his  every  testimony  of  affection  and  confidence. 
The  Pope  had  nominated  several  Jesuits  to  episcopal  sees  in  both 
hemispheres,  deeming  them  the  fittest  by  their  learning  and  virtue 
for  the  episcopal  office.  But  Father  Roothaan  pleaded  so  earnestly 
that  such  a door  should  not  be  opened  to  ambition  in  the  great  relig- 
ious family  over  which  he  presided,  that  the  Holy  Father  revoked  the 
nomination,  and  promised  that  in  future,  except  in  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sions among  the  heathen,  no  member  of  the  society  should  be  pro- 
moted to  the  episcopal  office. 

In  October  ^lariana  de  Paredes  was  beatified;  and  during  this 
same  year  four  metropolitan  sees  were  erected  in  the  United  States, 
those,  namely,  of  Xew  York,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  and  Xew  Orleans. 
Another  pontifical  act,  of  September  29th,  which  produced  very 
serious  complications,  was  the  re-establishment  of  a regular  hier- 
archy in  England.  There  had  been  on  the  subject  a previous  under- 
standing between  Bishop  Wiseman  and  the  Russell-Palmerston  cabi- 
net. It  had  been  agreed  that  the  assent  of  the  ministry  should  re- 
main a profound  secret,  and  this  secret  Dr.  Wiseman  kept  till  his 
dying  day,  in  spite  of  the  shocking  breach  of  good  faith  committed 
afterward  by  Lord  Russell.  The  creation  of  new  sees  with  local 
titles  had  never  been  considered  in  the  United  States  as  a matter  in 
which  the  Federal  or  State  governments  were  called  on  to  interfere. 
And  this  absolute  freedom  was  one  argument  urged  for  the  erection 
of  new  sees  in  England  not  interfering  with  the  old  episcopal  titles 
preserved  by  the  Reformation. 

The  commotion  produced  in  England  by  what  was  termed  ^^the 
papal  aggression,”  was  extraordinary,  and  threatened  great  danger 
to  the  Catholics.  But  the  admirable  discretion  of  their  leaders 
warded  off  every  chance  of  collision,  and  paralyzed  by  patience 


314  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

and  dignified  silence  the  fanaticism  of  the  mob  and  its  utmost  vio- 
lence. 

One  evil  effect  remained,  however,  after  the  popular  passion  had 
cooled  down,  and  that  was  the  more  open  countenance  given  to  Pied- 
mont in  its  aggressive  policy  toward  the  Holy  See,  the  advocacy  of 
the  cause  of  Young  Italy  by  the  English  press,  and  the  triumphant 
reception  accorded  to  Garibaldi  in  1864.  We  say  ^^more  open” 
countenance ; for,  the  refusal  of  the  Pope  to  acknowledge  himself 
bound  by  the  Fundamental  Statute,  and  to  carry  on  constitutional 
government  in  accordance  with  it,  after  the  downfall  of  the  republic, 
served  as  a safe  pretext  to  Lord  Palmerston  for  encouraging,  secretly 
at  least,  not  to  say  openly,  all  the  schemes  of  Cavour  and  Napo- 
leon III. 

All  through  the  next  four  years  active  preparations  were  made  for 
the  assembly  of  bishops  at  Rome,  in  which  it  was  proposed  to  pro- 
mulgate the  definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Meanwhile, 
the  Catholic  sovereigns,  against  whom  the  efforts  of  the  late  revolu- 
tion had  been  especially  directed,  were  preparing  to  repeal  the  op- 
pressive laws  against  the  Church,  which  had  been  one  of  the  Gallican 
legacies  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  Tuscany,  the  grand  duke — 
one  of  the  best  princes  of  the  house  of  Lorraine-Hapsburg,  who  had 
shared  the  liberal  ideas  and  the  vicissitudes  of  Pius  IX.,  had  been 
exiled  like  him,  and  restored  about  the  same  time — now  set  aside  the 
Leopoldine  laws,  which  kept  the  Church  in  his  dominions  bound 
hand  and  foot  to  the  State.  This  was  the  first  fruit  of  the  beautiful 
letter  to  the  bishops  of  Italy,  and  the  appeal  it  contained  to  the 
experience  of  Italian  sovereigns.  They  began  to  perceive  that  there 
can  be  but  little  respect  for  the  temporal  authority  of  the  prince  or 
the  magistrate,  in  any  community  in  which  the  people  are  taught  to 
hold  in  contempt  the  authority  in  spirituals  of  the  religion  professed 
by  themselves. 

The  young  emperor  of  Austria,  warned  by  the  revolution  which 
hastened  his  own  accession  to  the  throne,  also  repealed  the  most 
odious  enactments  of  Joseph  11. , and  negotiated  a new  concordat 
with  the  Holy  See,  which  was  formally  concluded  in  1855.  The  king 
of  Naples,  too,  who  had  till  then  maintained  the  tyrannical  laws 
imposed  on  the  Church  by  Marquis  Tanucci  during  the  Bourbonian 
crusade  against  the  Jesuits,  had  been  • inspired  by  the  virtues  and 
counsel  of  Pius  IX.  in  his  exile  at  Gaeta,  to  give  religion  its  full 
authority  and  the  sovereign  pontiff  untrammeled  liberty  in  dealing 


Piedmont  Pursues  an  Anti- Catholic  Policy,  3i5 


with  all  orders  of  the  clergy.  On  June  the  9th,  1855,  Ferdinand 
IL  began  a series  of  legislative  reforms  contemplating  the  perfect 
enfranchisement  of  the  Church,  and  a parallel  reform  of  lay  legisla- 
tion. Wurtemberg,  in  1857,  adopted  many  of  the  wisest  measures 
of  the  Austrian  concordat ; and  Portugal,  in  1859,  concluded  one  of 
her  own,  which  annulled  most  of  the  schismatical  and  anti-Christian 
laws  of  Pombal. 

The  stay  of  the  Pope  in  the  kingdon  of  Naples,  his  known  liberal 
disposition,  and  the  ill  fortune  that  he  had  met  with,  seemed  to  have 
stirred  up  Catholic  faith  and  piety  everywhere.  The  South  Ameri- 
can States  had  been  most  unanimous  in  forwarding  to  the  Holy 
Father  expressions  of  reverence  and  sympathy  and  substantial  aid  in 
his  need.  In  Central  America  Guatemala  had  gone  further;  ef- 
fective measures  were  agreed  upon  between  the  papal  government 
and  President  Carrera  for  the  settlement  of  all  religious  matters.  A 
concordat  was  concluded  on  October  the  7th,  1852,  which  gave  that 
beautiful,  but  sadly  neglected  country,  the  well-founded  hope  of  see- 
ing the  Holy  See  exercising  its  full  reforming  authority  among  the 
clergy,  restoring  education,  discipline,  and  piety,  all  totally  uncared 
for  during  several  generations. 

And  so  the  heart  of  the  good  shepherd  overflowed  with  joy  at  the 
brightening  prospects  of  religion,  much  as  he  felt  that  his  own 
political  future  was  seriously  threatened.  There  is  no  room  to 
doubt  it — had  Piedmont  been  willing  to  forego  the  criminal  ambi- 
tion which  made  her  abjure  every  law  of  conscience  and  moral 
rectitude — in  carrjdng  out  her  designs,  Italy,  within  the  lifetime  of 
Pius  IX.,  would  have  seen  every  one  of  her  native  States  blessed  with 
peace,  freedom,  prosperity,  and  the  revival  of  religion  and  national 
greatness.  As  it  is,  she  is  great  only  by  the  permission  of  Germany. 
Step  by  step,  without  the  slightest  regard  to  the  conventions  between 
the  sovereigns  of  Piedmont  and  the  Holy  See,  and  in  open  and  pro- 
fessed violence  of  its  supreme  authority  in  all  matters  of  Church  dis- 
cipline, Count  Cavour  and  the  democratic  ministries  which  succeeded 
each  other  in  Turin,  set  aside  all  acknowledged  ecclesiastical  law, 
secularized  Church  property,  suppressed  the  religious  orders,  abol- 
ished the  immunities  of  the  clergy ; took  upon  themselves  to  legis- 
late in  matters  which  strictly  belonged  to  Church  authority  alone, 
rendered  the  exercise  of  the  pontifical  authority  all  but  impossible, 
and  the  free  ministrations  of  the  clergy  a matter  of  exceeding  diffi- 
culty. It  was  in  vain  that  the  sovereign  pontiff  protested : the  king, 


3i6 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


now  a constitutional  monarch,  left  the  government  in  the  hands  of 
his  ministers,  and  gave  himself  entirely  up  to  his  unholy  pleasures ; 
and  his  ministers,  when  they  were  not  avowedly  members  of  the 
Young  Italy  democracy,  and  sworn  to  promote  its  objects,  were  con- 
tent to  allow  them  to  use  the  terrible  power  of  the  public  press  in 
misrepresenting  the  public  acts  of  the  Holy  Father  and  in  blackening 
his  private  character  and  the  persons  of  his  ministers. 

Thus  the  plans,  the  principles,  the  influence  of  Piedmont  from  the 
north  were  extending  daily,  and  rendering  the  task  of  governing  his 
States  and  completing  his  reforms  more  and  more  difficult  to  Pius  IX. 

The  year  1854  was  drawing  to  its  close,  and  the  entire  Catholic 
family  spread  over  both  hemispheres  felt  the  most  intense  interest 
in  the  approaching  solemnities  in  Eome.  Every  man,  woman,  and 
child  within  its  pale  had  in  the  doctrinal  judgment  about  to  be  pro- 
nounced the  same  personal  interest,  as  if  the  mother  who  bore  them 
were  to  be  declared  free  from  all  stain  of  guilt  by  the  united  voice  of 
Christian  ages.  In  every  household  it  was  felt  that  the  honor  of 
God’s  incarnate  Son  was  to  be  supremely  vindicated  in  the  stainless 
honor  of  his  mother. 

The  aim  and  hope  of  the  chief  pastor  of  Christ’s  wide  flock  were 
clearly  and  touchingly  expressed  in  the  dogmatic  bull  itself  : We 
hope  from  the  intercession  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  that  the 
Church,  our  holy  mother,  being  delivered  from  all  dangers  and  made 
victorious  over  all  errors,  shall  flourish  throughout  the  whole  earth, 
shall  bring  back  to  the  road  of  truth  all  souls  that  are  straying  from 
it,  so  that  there  shall  be  but  one  fold  and  one  shepherd.” 

The  war  between  Eussia,  on  the  one  side,  and  Turkey,  England, 
and  France,  on  the  other,  was  about  to  break  out,  threatening  to 
enkindle  a general  conflagration  in  Europe ; and  many  States  were 
sorely  troubled  by  intestine  dissensions.  The  father  of  Christendom, 
to  whose  soul  the  supernatural  and  invisible  world  was  more  of  an 
ever-present  reality  than  the  world  of  sense,  was  fain  to  unite  all  his 
children  in  solemn  supplication  and  penance,  in  order  to  draw  down 
on  Christ’s  family  the  special  assistance  of  the  new  Adam  and  the 
new  Eve,  and  to  obtain  special  light  from  on  high  as  the  bishops  of 
every  land  were  about  to  proceed  to  Eome.  On  the  1st  of  August  the 
encyclical  ApostoliccB  nostrcB  caritatis  proclaimed  a universal  jubilee 
of  prayers,  good  works,  and  penitential  satisfaction  in  furtherance  of 
these  purposes.  Pius  IX.  wished  to  have  pure  hearts  and  pure  hands 
raised  on  high  in  prayer,  in  order  to  propitiate  the  divine  mercy. 


Solemnity  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  317 

From  the  20tli  to  the  24th  Noyemher  all  the  bishops  assembled  in 
Rome  met  daily  to  discuss,  paragraph  by  paragraph,  the  solemn 
dogmatic  bull  defining  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
the  cardinals  holding  their  own  private  sessions,  in  which  the  acts  of 
the  bishops  were  discussed  and  revised,  under  the  presidence  of  the 
Pope  himself. 

This  preliminary  discussion  being  ended,  the  Pope  assembled  the 
Sacred  College  on  December  the  1st,  delivered  a short  allocution, 
and  then  took  the  votes  of  all  the  cardinals  present  on  the  subject 
before  them.  There  was  perfect  unanimity,  and  on  December  the 
8th,  the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter’s  was  decorated  with  a splendor  it  had 
never  known  till  now,  and  for  such  a ceremony  as  had  never  been 
witnessed  beneath  its  lofty  dome.  Upwards  of  two  hundred  bishops 
of  every  land  were  in  attendance.  There  were  Catholics  and  Protes- 
tants from  both  hemispheres,  the  former  drawn  to  Rome  by  the  piety 
imbibed  from  childhood  toward  the  Mother  of  the  Redeemer,  the 
others  attracted  by  the  mere  desire  to  witness  a magnificent  func- 
tion. Rome  was  crowded. 

The  procession  started  from  the  Sixtine  Chapel,  and  proceeded 
through  the  vast  aisles  of  St.  Peter’s  to  the  apse  behind  the  high 
altar,  the  pontifical  throne  having  been  prepared  in  the  centre  of 
the  apse,  and  the  seats  for  the  Sacred  College  and  the  archbishops 
and  bishops  on  both  sides.  Afer  the  chanting  of  the  gospel,  Cardi- 
nal Macchi,  dean  of  the  Sacred  College,  made  the  formal  petition 
demanding  the  definition  or  final  judgment  of  the  Holy  See  on  the 
exemption  of  the  ever- Blessed  Mary,  Mother  of  God,  from  the  guilt 
and  stain  of  original  sin. 

The  sovereign  pontiff  returned  a favorable  answer,  and  bade  all 
present  invoke  anew  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  hymn  Yeni 
Creator,  ‘^Come,  Creator  Spirit,”  was  intoned.  Pope,  cardinals, 
bishops,  and  the  immense  audience  throughout  the  basilica,  kneel- 
ing all  together  and  joining  in  the  majestic  chant.  The  hymn  over, 
the  Pope  sang  the  versicle  and  prayer,  and  standing  on  his  throne 
amid  a stillness  so  deep  that  not  a breath  was  heard,  he  uttered  in 
tones  clear,  full,  and  impressive  these  words  of  the  decree  : 

'‘After  having  offered  up  unceasingly  our  humble  prayers  to  God 
the  Father,  through  his  Son,  together  with  fasts  and  solemn  suppli- 
cations throughout  the  Church,  in  order  that  he  should  vouchsafe 
to  guide  and  strengthen  our  thoughts  by  the  virtue  of  his  Holy 
Spirit ; having  implored  the  aid  of  the  entire  court  of  heaven,  and 


3i8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


having  especially  invoked  by  our  sighs  and  prayers  that  Spirit  Com- 
forter whose  breath  has  come  upon  us  ; to  the  honor  of  the  holy  and 
undivided  Trinity,  to  the  honor  and  glory  of  the  Virgin  Mother  of 
God,  for  the  exaltation  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  the  spread  of  the 
Christian  religion,  by  the  authority  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  the 
apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  and  by  our  own  . . 

Here  the  speaker’s  voice  seemed  to  fail  him,  his  eyes  filled  with 
tears.  But  recovering  himself,  he  proceeded  in  a louder  and  firmer 
tone  : 

We  declare,  affirm,  and  define  that  the  doctrine  which  says  that 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  was  preserved  and  exempted  from  all  stain 
of  original  sin  from  the  first  instant  of  her  conception,  in  view  of 
the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  of  all  mankind,  is  a doctrine 
revealed  of  God,  and  which,  for  this  reason,  all  Christians  are  bound 
to  believe  firmly  and  with  confidence.  . . 

The  last  words  of  the  decree  had  scarcely  fallen  on  the  ears  of  the 
rapt  audience  when  the  cannon  of  Castle  St.  Angelo  thundered 
forth  the  tidings  to  the  Eternal  City,  and  all  the  church  bells  of 
Rome  rang  forth  a joyous  peal.  It  was  a moment  never  to  be  for- 
gotten even  by  those  who  shared  not  in  the  belief  of  the  multitude 
there,  whose  grateful  feelings  vented  themselves  in  subdued  but 
heartfelt  thanksgiving. 

How  the  entire  Catholic  world  celebrated  this  event  cannot  be  de- 
scribed here.  On  December  the  10th,  the  splendid  Basilica  of  St. 
Paul,  outside  the  walls,”  burned  July  15th,  1823,  and  restored  under 
Gregory  XVI.  and  Pius  IX.,  was  dedicated  anew  in  presence  of  the 
assembled  bishops.  The  Pope  took  a singular  pleasure,  while  pre- 
lates and  missionaries  from  the  remotest  and  most  barbarous  coun- 
tries were  present,  in  preaching  himself  on  this  unique  occasion,  and 
in  holding  up  to  the  admiration  and  imitation  of  all  the  great 

apostle  of  the  nations;”  '^this  chosen  vessel,  the  brightest  light 
of  the  Christian  law,  the  most  illustrious  herald  of  the  gospel,  who, 
while  still  in  the  flesh,  was  lifted  up  in  spirit  to  Paradise.  The 
deep  searcher  of  the  divine  counsels,  the  wise  teacher  of  nations, 
bearing  and  contemning  for  Christ’s  dear  love,  on  sea  and  land,  so 
many  labors,  dangers,  difficulties,  and  sufferings ; who  preached  the 
Holy  Xame  to  kings  and  peoples,  confuting  the  synagogue,  con- 
founding pagan  philosophy,  striking  down  idolatry  from  its  seat  of 
power,  becoming  all  things  to  all  men,  by  his  admirable  actions,  and 
his  admirable  writings,  shed  splendor  on  the  Church  while  extend- 


The  Pope  Supremely  Happy.  319 

mg  her  reign,  and  consummated  all  by  tbe  fruitful  witness  of  his 
own  blood.” 

Pius  IX.  had  deemed  himself  supremely  happy  had  the  Master 
called  him  to  his  rest  and  reward  after  such  glorious  celebrations  as 
these.  It  was  so  clear  to  the  eye  of  his  soul,  that  the  bitter  persecu- 
tions through  which  the  Church  was  passing,  only  helped  to  mani- 
fest her  diyinity  and  vitality  1 

During  a long  period  of  time,”  said  Bishop  Dupanloup,  ‘^the 
powers  of  earth  had  reserved  for  themselves  the  triumph  of  public 
pageants.  . . . Eeligion  has  now  had  hers,  and  the  nineteenth 

century  has  beheld  a renewal  of  the  popular  festivities  of  the  ages  of 
faith. 

^^The  celebration  of  December  the  8th  thus  crowns  the  expecta- 
tion of  past  centuries,  sheds  a blessing  on  the  present  one,  claims 
the  gratitude  of  generations  unborn,  and  shall  leave  behind  an  im- 
perishable remembrance.  It  satisfies  all  and  wounds  no  one ; it  is 
the  first  doctrinal  definition  undisturbed  by  any  opposition  at  the 
moment  it  was  pronounced ; it  is  the  first  which  leaves  no  heresy 
behind.  It  will  leave  the  Catholic  world  unanimous,  just  as  it 
found  it.  It  confirms  everything  and  overthrows  nothing  ; it  draws 
closer  than  ever  the  ties  which  bind  the  Church  of  Prance  to  Home, 
which  unite  the  East  to  the  "West,  the  successor  of  Peter  with  the 
bishops  of  the  whole  world ; it  sets  forth  power  and  unity,  energy 
and  faith,  expansion  and  charity.  It  is  for  the  present  hour  an 
irresistible  evidence  of  vitality,  coming  after  so  many  ruthless 
storms.  That  Church  which  people  believed  to  be  prostrated  by 
fifty  years  of  persecution  and  outrage,  stands  forth  mightier  and 
freer  than  ever ; and  this  undying  spouse  of  the  living  God,  whom 
many  affirmed  to  be  exhausted  by  that  half-century  of  indifference 
and  neglect,  shows  herself  to  be  as  powerful  as  in  the  days  of  old, 
by  performing  without  apparent  effort  and  with  the  simple  majesty 
natural  to  her,  a new  and  solemn  act  of  highest  sovereignty.”  * 

The  two  hundred  bishops  present  were  the  guests  of  his  Holiness 
during  their  stay  in  Eome,  and  no  man  ever  better  understood  the 
duties  of  hospitality  than  Pius  IX.  Excessively  sparing  as  he  is  in 
all  that  pertains  to  his  own  immediate  sustenance,  he  is  more  than 
munificent  in  entertaining  those  who  come  to  him  from  afar,  the 
faithful  laborers  in  the  divine  Master’s  vineyard,  the  persecuted 


* Dupanloup,  (Euvrcs  choisies,  vol.  ii.,  p.  123. 


320 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


sheplierds  of  a worried  flock,  the  anointed  of  the  Lord  oft(;n  hear- 
ing the  scars  of  the  battles  of  faith.  His  whole  heart  goes  out  to 
them.  They  are  to  him  the  very  person  of  Christ,  to  be  received 
with  all  reverence,  charity,  and  tenderness,  and  to  be  cared  for  as 
would  be  the  Good  Shepherd  himself,  did  he  stand  and  knock  at  the 
gates  of  the  pontifical  palace. 

As  the  august  assemblage  was  about  to  break  up  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  solemnities,  the  senior  bishop  present,  the  venerable  Cardinal 
De  Bonald,  Archbishop  of  Lyons,  rose  to  thank  his  Holiness  in  the 
name  of  his  brethren.  ^‘Let  your  Holiness  permit  me,”  he  said, 
^‘to  return  thanks  for  the  honorable  and  magnificent  hospitality 
granted  to  the  bishops  who  have  come  hither  to  pay  the  homage  of 
their  respect  and  devotion.  I make  free  to  say  that  they  were  not 
undeserving  of  all  this  kindness ; for  they  have  accepted  your  de- 
cisions with  unreserved  submission.  Yes,  0 Holy  Father,  in  your 
authority  we  reverence  that  of  Christ  himself,  and  in  your  words  we 
hear  the  words  of  the  life  eternal.  Before  the  decrees  pronounced 
by  you  for  the  entire  Catholic  world,  we  bow  our  heads,  as  before 
the  oracle  of  him  who  promised  to  abide  evermore  with  his  Church. 
Our  gratitude  shall  be  proved  by  the  prayers  which  we  shall  not 
cease  to  offer  up  for  your  happiness,  the  success  of  your  apostolic 
labors,  and  the  tranquillity  of  your  States.” 

While  these  venerable  pilgrims  are  returning  to  their  respective 
flocks  on  every  land  beneath  the  heavens,  it  may  not  be  inappropri- 
ate to  pause  and  retire  with  Pius  IX.  from  the  noise  and  pomp  and 
fatigue  of  these  grand  religious  pageants,  to  repose  with  him  in  tho 
subdued  light  of  his  privacy,  and  see  how  the  habits  of  the  priest 
and  the  man  correspond  with  the  public  acts  and  utterances  of  the 
pontiff  and  the  sovereign.  We  have  been,  like  the  early  emigrants 
over  our  western  plains,  long  toiling  through  savage  and  desolate 
tracts,  where  the  worst  perils  do  not  come  from  the  wild  beast,  but 
from  the  ferocity  and  treachery  of  wilder  man.  We  have  been 
camping,  for  the  brief  space  of  one  night  and  morning,  beneath  the 
shelter  of  kindly  trees,  on  the  border  of  a lovely  lake  amid  the  hills, 
whose  unruffled  bosom  reflected,  undimmed,  the  bright  stars  of  the 
night  and  all  the  magnificence  of  heaven  when  lit  up  by  the  dawn. 
There  is  still  a long  and  exciting  road  before  us ; pause  we  then, 
while  the  sun  is  high  in  the  firmament,  and  let  us  explore  the  secret 
charms  of  our  resting-place. 

^^The  small  portion  of  the  Vatican,”  says  Hare,  which  is  inhab- 


Private  Life  of  Pius  IX. 


321 


i feed  by  tbe  Pope  is  never  seen  except  by  those  wbo  are  admitted  to  a 
special  audience.  Tbe  rooms  of  tbe  aged  pontiff  are  furnished  with 
a simplicity  which  would  be  inconceivable  in  the  abode  of  any  other 
sovereign  prince.” 

^^Pius  IX.,”  says  another  writer,  sleeps  in  one  of  the  smallest 
of  the  eleven  thousand  rooms  at  his  command.  A narrow,  humble 
bed,  without  curtains  or  di'apery — something  similar  to  those  used 
in  seminaries  for  school-boys — a sofa,  two  or  three  common  chairs, 
and  a writing-table,  are  all  the  articles  of  furniture — few  and  simple 
enough  for  a Capuchin.  There  is  not  even  a rug  by  the  bedside  to 
cover  the  floor  of  red  tile,  not  in  the  best  repair.  ^ Take  care  how 
you  step,  there  is  a brick  loose,’  said  the  Pope  to  a Turinese  eccle- 
siastic who  was  admitted  to  his  presence  the  other  day,  when  he  was 
confined  to  bed,  and  whose  eyesight  he  knew  was  not  as  good  as  his 
own.  Winter  and  summer  alike  the  Pope  gets  up  soon  after  five 
o’clock,  seldom  or  never  later  than  half-past,  and  after  he  has 
finished  dressing  remains  about  an  hour  and  a half  alone,  passing 
his  time  in  prayer  and  meditation.” 

Giovanni  Masta'i,  while  as  yet  a student  in  theology,  had  learned 
the  golden  spiritual  rule  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  to  devote  a full  hour 
every  morning,  after  dressing,  to  meditation  on  some  of  the  mys- 
teries of  Christ’s  life,  passion,  and  death,  or  on  some  of  the  divine 
truths  pertaining  to  the  soul’s  account  in  eternity.  This  practice  of 
meditation,  so  necessary  to  every  person  ambitious  of  rising  to  any 
degree  of  spiritual  perfection  or  of  achieving  anything  remarkable 
for  the  divine  honor,  was  never  omitted  by  the  Pope  from  these  first 
years  of  his  beautiful  priestly  springtide.  It  formed  his  soul  to 
heroic  enterprise  while  on  his  way  to  South  America,  and  amid  the 
privations  and  perils  of  his  journeyings  there.  It  was  the  secret 
spring  which  fed  his  superhuman  charity  and  devotion  at  Spoleto  as 
well  as  at  Imola.  He  had  also  most  admirable  examples  in  the  two 
saintly  men  with  whom  he  preluded  in  1818,  at  Sinigaglia,  the  apos- 
tolic labors  of  his  future  career. 

When  Cardinal  Odescalchi  laid  aside  his  dignity  and  all  prospects 
of  worldly  honor  to  become  a poor  Jesuit,  his  former  protege,  now 
archbishop  of  Imola,  would  have  the  lowly  religious  come  to  him, 
and  teach  his  priests  and  himself  in  their  sweet  retreat  at  Piratello 
how  to  pray  and  meditate  like  Christ,  and  how  to  suffer  with  Christ, 
and  he  would  have  the  once  cardinal,  but  now  humble  priest,  preach 
to  the  people  of  Imola — for  Father  Odescal chi’s  very  appearance  was 


322 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


a living  lesson  from  the  Imitation  of  Christ.”  But  it  was  for  hia 
own  souFs  advancement  in  self-denial  and  all  the  industries  of  inte- 
rior life  that  the  archbishop  was  anxious  to  learn  from  so  admirable 
a practitioner. 

Even  to  this  day  Pius  IX.  never  omits,  no  matter  what  may  have 
been  the  labors  of  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  to  prepare  most  care- 
fully, before  retiring  for  the  night,  the  subject  of  the  next  morning’s 
meditation.  And  when  morning  comes,  he  will  brook  no  breaking  in 
on  that  sacred  hour  given  wholly  to  sweet  communion  with  the 
divine  majesty  and  the  invisible  court  of  heaven.  When,  at  the 
end  of  the  full  hour,  he  withdraws -from  that  dear  presence,  he  sits 
down  to  call  himself  to  a severe  account  for  the  manner  in  which  he 
has  demeaned  himself  while  conversing  face  to  face  with  the  King  of 
kings,  and  the  practical  resolutions  he  has  formed  for  his  own  ad- 
vancement during  the  coming  day. 

Thence — thus  refreshed  and  purified  and  strengthened — ^he  goes  to 
the  altar  to  offer  up  the  mystic  sacrifice  and  his  own  life  in  union 
with  the  Divine  Victim  sacramentally  present  there.  This  is  habitu- 
ally in  a little  chapel  near  his  private  apartments.  One  of  his  chap- 
lains celebrates  mass  after  him,  the  Pope  remaining  meanwhile  in 
devout  thanksgiving  before  the  altar. 

Another  pious  habit,  akin  to  that  of  daily  mental  prayer  or  medi- 
tation, and  learned  from  the  same  source,  is  that  of  withdrawing 
after  his  noon-day  meal  for  one  half-hour  to  the  same  little  chapel, 
there  to  examine  his  soul  in  presence  of  the  Great  J udge  on  the  way 
he  has  discharged  during  the  day  the  weighty  duties  of  his  high 
office,  and  on  the  most  pressing  needs  of  every  portion  of  his  im- 
mense flock. 

Let  the  biblical  scholar  remember  the  patriarch’s  wrestling  the 
live-long  night  with  one  whom  he  thought  an  angel,  and  from  whom, 
when  revealed  to  him  with  the  early  dawn,  he  obtained  the  blessing 
which  saved  him  from  his  brother’s  wrath  and  sworn  revenge.  Ko 
one  better  than  Pius  IX.  knows,  that  in  prayer  the  soul  must  wrestle 
with  him  who  will  have  us  importune  him  in  our  need.  Christ’s 
vicar  is  skilled  in  this  spiritual  exercise,  which  obtains  so  many 
graces  for  the  dear  souls  of  his  wide  family. 

What  wonder  then,  that,  being  such  as  he  is,  and  coming  daily 
forth  from  the  divine  presence  filled  with  the  thought  of  God,  and 
inflamed  with  zeal  for  the  interests  dearest  to  him — the  interests  of 
truth  and  immortal  souls,  and  the  welfare  of  his  church — that  he 


His  Ojficial  Duties, 


323 


should  be  so  fearless  in  denouncing  error  and  iniquity,  in  reproving 
evil-doers,  whether  they  be  emperors,  kings,  presidents,  or  prime 
ministers,  or  the  dark  conspirators  who  are  ever  plotting  the  destruc- 
tion of  order  and  morality  ? 

At  half-past  eight  o’clock  Pius  IX.  breakfasts  on  a cup  of  black 
coffee  and  a piece  of  dry  bread.  Immediately  afterward  he  enters 
his  study  and  begins  the  laborious  duties  of  his  official  life.  The 
study  is  a small  one-windowed  room,”  overlooking  the  square  in 
front  of  St.  Peter’s.  The  room  has  for  all  furniture  a very  common 
carpet,  some  chairs  covered  with  crimson  cloth,  a large  writing-table, 
on  which  are  bundles  of  papers,  a crucifix,  a statuette  of  the  Immac- 
ulate Mother,  a time-piece,  and  an  ink-stand.  The  Pope  sits  in  a 
straight-backed  chair,  while  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State,  Mon- 
signor Mercurelli,  charged  with  the  correspondence  with  royal  per- 
sonages, and  Monsignor  Xocella,  his  latin  secretary,  come  in  succes- 
sion to  fulfill  their  respective  functions.  Every  document  received 
or  sent  is  read  in  presence  of  his  Holiness,  who  sits  with  his  good 
goose-quill  in  hand,  marking  on  every  letter  or  petition  in  a few  dis- 
tinctly written  words,  what  is  his  pleasure. 

It  is  a long  and  wearisome  task — ^but  only  the  beginning.  When 
his  early  mail  has  been  disposed  of,  the  hour  has  arrived  for  official 
audiences.  Then  come  the  semi-public  audiences  to  visitors,  pil- 
grims, etc.  With  this  daily  duty,  so  interesting  to  the  crowds  who 
come  from  afar  to  have  his  blessing  and  a few  kind  words  to  each, 
terminates  the  morning  round  of  occupations. 

What  is  known  as  the  Pope’s  cercoli,  circles,”  are  next  held  in  a 
small  room  adjoining  the  large  library.  The  cardinals,  bishops,  and 
specially  invited  clergymen  and  laymen  all  come  at  the  appointed 
hour  and  form  a semicircle  round  the  Pope,  all  being  seated.  If 
his  Holiness  has  anything  very  interesting  to  communicate,  he  does 
so  briefly  and  pleasantly.  There  is  a kind  word  for  every  one  present 
— a question  to  each  foreigner  about  his  own  country — every  word 
enlivened  by  the  Pope’s  pleasant  humor  and  ready  wit ; and  his 
questions  and  remarks  betraying  a most  retentive  memory  concerning 
persons  and  places  the  most  widely  asunder. 

This  ends  at  two  o’clock,  when  the  Pope  is  served  his  frugal  and 
solitary  dinner  in  a small  room  adjoining  the  bedroom  and  study,  and 
furnished  with  a like  simplicity.  There  is  soup,  with  three  dishes, 
of  which  he  never  tastes  more  than  two ; of  fried  meats  or  spiced 
dishes  he  never  partakes  ; drinks — lately,  and  by  command  of  his 


324 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


physician — a very  little  foreign  wine.  One  of  the  private  chaplains 
in  attendance  reads  a passage  from  Scripture,  a portion  of  some 
pious  book;  and  then  if  his  private  secretaries  have  anything  of 
special  interest,  they  are  admitted.  \Yhen  the  cloth  is  removed 
the  Pope  remains  alone  for  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  dozing  with  his 
elbows  on  the  table  and  his  head  between  both  hands.  -He  then  re- 
tires for  a half-hour’s  meditation  to  the  private  chapel. 

The  remainder  of  the  afternoon  is  devoted  to  appointed  audiences 
of  the  various  pontifical  ministers  and  officials,  each  of  whom  has  a 
fixed  hour  for  the  transaction  of  business.  There  is  not  a minute  in 
his  day  that  has  not  its  allotted  purpose.  The  ‘‘  divine  office,”  or 
breviary,  is  punctually  recited  with  one  of  his  domestic  chaplains. 

At  half-past  eight  there  is  what  scarcely  can  be  called  a supper — 
a slight  refection  consisting  of  one  dish  and  a little  wine  and  water. 
The  Pope  then  retires  to  his  study,  and  the  remaining  hour  till  ten 
o’clock  is  spent  in  strict  seclusion,  examination  of  conscience,  and 
preparation  of  the  subject  of  meditation  for  the  next  morning. 

Before  the  occupation  of  Rome  by  the  Piedmontese,  the  Holy 
Father  had  an  hour  for  visiting  the  hospitals  or  the  poorest  quarters 
of  Rome,  or  for  a good  healthy  walk  in  the  least  frequented  roads. 

To  students  he  is  as  afiable  and  familiar  as  he  was  in  his  bishop- 
ric of  Imola,  or  while  yet  a simple  priest.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
autumn  of  1856  he  had  a number  of  the  students  of  every  ecclesias- 
tical college  in  Rome  to  dine  with  him.  . . . Such  is  the  special 

kindness  which  he  feels  toward  the  students  of  the  Irish  college, 
more  of  their  body  enjoyed  that  distinction  than  of  any  other. 

One  afternoon  I was  returning  from  a ramble  over  the  charming 
Pincian  Hill,  . . . when  I saw  a figure  clad  in  a white  cloth 

soutane,  with  a cap  and  belt  of  the  same  color,  and  wearing  a wide- 
brimmed  crimson  hat  adorned  with  a gold  cord.  ...  At  each 
side  walked  two  persons  dressed  as  the  students  of  the  Apollinari 
college.  ...  I did  not  hesitate  about  forming  part  of  the  cor- 
tege . . . for  nearly  two  miles  along  the  Flaminian  Way,  which 

the  prevalence  of  a strong  wind  had  rendered  more  than  usually 
dusty.  Clad  in  the  simple  dress  . . . his  figure  appeared  stout 

and  robust,  but  by  no  means  unduly  full  for  a man  of  his  age 
(then  sixty-seven).  He  walked  vigorously  and  well,  freely  using  his 
arms.  . . . As  he  was  descending  the  hill  he  met  a group  of 

students  of  the  Propaganda,  amongst  whom  I instantly  recognized 
one  of  the  dark  faces  which  I had  previously  seen  in  the  Pauline 


His  Love  of  Students  and  Children,  325 

chapel.  The  Pope  at  once  stopped  and  conversed  with  them  for  a 
few  moments.  In  the  same  way  he  spoke  to  children  who  had  been 
enjoying  themselves  in  innocent  sport,  hut  who,  on  being  addressed 
by  the  Holy  Father,  evinced  toward  him  respect,  not  bashfulness. 

. . . Every  human  being  whom  he  met  on  his  way  knelt  to 

receive  his  blessing.  There  was  no  exception  whatever — old  as  well 
as  young,  rich  as  well  as  poor,  the  rude  driver  of  the  quaint-looking 
market-cart  as  well  as  the  noble  equestrian — all  knelt  as  he  ap- 
proached, and  with  an  utter  disregard  of  the  place  in  which  they 
knelt. 

There  was  nothing  in  that  face  to  awe  or  to  repel,  but  every- 
thing to  attract.  . . . There  is  in  the  face  of  Pius  IX.  much  that 
would  recall  to  the  memory  the  sweet  countenance  of  another  most 
benevolent  priest,  the  illustrious  and  lamented  Father  Matthew. 
Nor  is  the  resemblance  merely  external ; for  in  considerateness  and 
kindness  of  manner  to  all  persons,  without  distinction  of  rank ; in 
compassion  and  tenderness  for  the  poor  and  the  suffering,  and  in  un- 
failing gentleness  to  youth,  there  is  much  similarity  of  character  and 
disposition  between  these  two  great  and  good  men.  In  their  bound- 
less charity — the  desire  to  convert  their  every  earthly  possession  into 
the  means  of  relieving  others — I can  see  a still  stranger  and  more 
touching  resemblance.”  * 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  the  divine  instinct  which  prompted 
the  heroic  acts  of  devotion  and  charity  mentioned  in  the  early  chap- 
ters of  this  work  found  the  soul  of  Pius  IX.  less  obedient  to  its  im- 
pulses, than  when  he  was  a missionary  amid  the  Andes,  or  a zealous 
bishop  at  Spoleto  and  Imola*  Where  the  love  of  prayer  constantly 
feeds  in  the  soul  the  heavenly  springs  of  charity,  they  fail  not, 
diminish  not  with  age,  but  rather  overflow  more  abundantly.  There 
are  privileged  souls,  which  never  lose,  during  the  longest  life,  that 
freshness  and  trustfulness  which  incline  them  ever  toward  seeing 
the  good  side  of  human  nature,  or  which,  when  they  see  the  wretched 
side,  impel  them  irresistibly  to  pity  and  to  relieve. 

When  he  was  ruler  of  Eome  and  its  territory,  he  never  moved  abroad 
without  having  one  or  two  of  his  almoners  by  his  side  with  well- 
filled  bags,  which  were  sure  to  be  emptied  ere  his  return.  Since  Oc- 
tober, 1870,  he  stirs  no  more  abroad ; the  Ghetto  and  the  poor  of  the 
Trastavere  watch  no  longer  for  the  white-robed  figure,  and  the  radi- 


♦ **  Rome  and  its  Ruler,”  2d  ed.,  London,  1859,  pp.  125,  126,  127. 


326 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


ant  countenance  of  their  father  and  benefactor ; they  watch  no  more 
for  the  hand  that  was  never  lifted  hut  to  bless,  and  which  was  ever 
open,  like  the  broad  bosom  of  a glorious  river,  to  give  plenty  and  joy 
as  it  went  on  its  way.  There  were,  too,  in  the  good  old  times,  some 
of  the  Noble  Guard  with  their  sovereign  as  he  went  on  his  frequent 
walks  or  his  errands  of  purest  beneficence,  and  they  were  with  him 
not  to  protect  him  from  dangers  that  had  no  existence,  but  solely  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting  every  letter,  every  petition  for  aid,  for 
justice,  or  for  mercy,  presented  to  him  by  his  children.  And  not 
one  ever  failed  to  receive  his  prompt  attention ; no  case  of  injustice 
ever  came  to  his  notice  without  being  promptly  redressed,  no  dis- 
tressed creature  ever  appealed  in  vain  to  him,  who  was,  if  in  naught 
else,  at  least  in  mercy  and  goodness,  Christ’s  representative  on  earth  ! 

Still,  even  now  the  post-oflSce  brings  him  many  a petition  from  far 
and  near,  and  the  doors  of  the  Vatican,  as  of  old,  are  never  closed, 
by  night  or  by  day,  to  any  human  being  who  needs  the  bounty 
or  the  care,  the  soothing  voice,  or  the  healing,  merciful  hand  of 
Pius  IX.  ! 

The  personal  income  of  the  Pope,  in  his  palmiest  days,  never  ex- 
ceeded five  thousand  dollars  a year ; yet,  from  1846  to  1850,  he  spent 
in  works  of  charity  and  beneficence  upwards  of  one  million  and  a 
half  of  dollars — this  enormous  sum  having  been  supplied  by  the  vol- 
untary donations  of  Catholics  from  every  land,  Since  he  has  been 
deprived  of  his  temporal  sovereignty  he  has  steadily  and  consistently 
refused  the  revenue  granted  or  promised  by  the  Italian  parliament, 
and  has  relied  exclusively  on  the  alms  sent  him  by  his  childi’en 
throughout  the  world.  With  these  he  provides  for  the  immense  ad- 
ministration required  by  the  affairs  of  the  universal  Church,  and 
dispenses  with  an  unstinted  generosity  aid  to  every  suffering  church 
and  institution  throughout  Italy,  support  to  the  thousands  of  help- 
less nuns  and  priests  driven  from  their  homes  and  cast  homeless  and 
penniless  on  the  world,  while  his  almsgiving  to  the  obscure  poor  and 
needy  is  far  more  abundant  than  in  1846  or  1849.  The  money 
poured  in  on  him  by  the  loving  piety  of  the  faithful  of  both  worlds 
is  poured  back  on  others  unceasingly. 

Thus  we  see  the  earth,  from  the  glaciers  of  its  great  mountain- 
chains  and  its  lakes  in  the  uplands,  pouring  down  its  streams  without 
ceasing  into  the  ocean.  And,  all  the  while,  all  over  the  ocean’s  vast 
expanse  God’s  winds  with  their  invisible  hands  are  collecting  the 
vapors  from  the  deep  and  freighting  with  them  the  clouds — the 


The  Slave- Girl  from  New  Orleans, 


327 


ships  of  the  air — impelling  these  toward  the  east  and  the  west,  where 
the  precious  waters  are  discharged  anew  on  mountain-chain,  upland 
and  lowland,  forest  and  plowed  field.  So  is  it  with  the  charity  of 
Christ’s  faithful,  and  the  exhaustless  generosity  of  him  who  is  Christ’s 
vicar. 

Needing  little  or  nothing  for  himself,  and  never  bestowing  on  his 
family  either  undeserved  honor  or  gratuitous  emoluments,  Pius  IX. 
found  means  to  perfect  all  the  struggling  institutions  of  his  States, 
whether  these  were  devoted  to  religious  or  to  secular  purposes,  and 
to  create  others  on  every  side  with  princely  munificence.  There  is 
not  an  object  of  real  necessity  or  acknowledged  utility  to  his  people 
that  he  did  not  encourage  with  the  same  impartial  and  intelligent 
zeal. 

In  the  work  of  a contemporary  writer,  taken  all  too  early  from  his 
country’s  need  and  confidence,  from  literature  and  journalism  which 
he  had  honored  by  his  success  and  his  virtues,  from  the  British  Par- 
liament where  all  respected  talents  which  party  could  neither  sway 
nor  purchase,  we  have  the  touching  and  well-known  story  of  the 
American  slave-girl  brought  to  Pome  by  her  Catholic  masters. 
Though  the  contact  of  Eoman  soil  enfranchised  all  who  touched  it, 
this  poor  African  wished  to  remain  a slave  ; and  besides,  there  was 
the  color  of  her  race,  which  even  in  liberty-loving  lands  excludes 
freedman  and  freedwoman  from  the  dearest  courtesies  and  charities 
of  social  intercourse.  Yet  in  Pome,  the  home  of  the  common 
father  of  all  humanity,  color  never  yet  has  been  aught  else  but  a 
special  claim  on  the  affection,  the  respect,  and  the  courtesy  of  all. 

It  was  in  1856,  and  the  family  to  which  she  belonged  were  re- 
turning to  New  Orleans.  Marguerite  had  been  confirmed  while  in 
Pome,  and  had  only  one  wish  ere  she  departed,  that  she  might  be 
placed  somewhere  on  the  Pope’s  passage,  where  one  fatherly  look 
might  be  given  her,  with  a blessing  pronounced  especially  on  herself. 
And  the  wish  was  made  known  to  the  Pope. 

^‘Next  day  a papal  dragoon  was  seen  riding  up  and  down  the  Via 
Condotti,  making  inquiries  at  various  places  for  Mademoiselle  Mar- 
guerite, for  whom  he  had  a letter  of  audience  with  the  first  sovereign 
in  the  world.”  After  an  infinity  of  trouble  the  letter  safely  reached 
its  destination,  and  at  the  appointed  hour  Marguerite  found  herself 
in  the  reception  hall  of  the  Vatican,  amid  the  crowd  of  the  well-bom 
who  were  about  to  leave  Pome  after  the  Easter . festivals.  The  poor 
shrinking  African  girl  naturally  fancied  that  she  must  wait  till-  all 


328 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


the  great  folk  present  had  been  presented  to  the  Holy  Father.  But 
lo  ! the  first  name  called  out  by  the  chamberlain  in  waiting  is 

Mademoiselle  Marguerite ! ” And  she  is  ushered,  trembling  and 
amazed,  into  the  presence  of  Pius  IX.  A Yoice  of  touching  sweet- 
ness and  gentleness  soon  inspired  her  with  confidence.  My  child, 
there  are  many  great  people  waiting,  but  I wish  to  speak  to  you 
the  first.  Though  you  are  the  least  upon  earth,  you  may  be  the 
greatest  in  the  sight  of  God,  He  then  conversed  with  her  for 
twenty  minutes.  He  asked  her  about  her  condition,  her  fellow- 
slaves,  her  hardships.  I have  many  hardships,  she  replied ; but 
since  I was  confirmed  I have  learned  to  accept  them  as  the  will  of 
God,  He  exhorted  her  to  persevere,  and  to  do  good  in  the  condition 
in  which  she  was  placed ; and  he  then  gave  her  his  blessing.  He 
blessed  her,  and  blessed  ‘ all  those  about  her ; ’ so  that  this  poor  slave 
carried  with  her  from  that  memorable  interview  greater  courage 
. . . to  bear  up  against  her  yoke  of  suffering  and  humiliation.”  * 

We  shall  not  be  surprised  to  hear  of  the  Pope’s  doing  in  his  old 
age  what  he  had  done  as  a priest  in  his  early  youth — seek  out  in  the 
cholera  hospitals  the  worst  cases  of  infection,  and  attend  to  them 
with  his  characteristic  tenderness.  He  had  read  of  his  favorite, 
Peter  Claver,  finding  a poor  negro  slave  stricken  with  a most  hideous 
leprosy  and  left  to  die  uncared  for  in  a lonely  out-house.  The  holy 
missionary  wrapped  his  cloak  around  him,  lifted  him  tenderly  in  his 
arms,  and  carried  him,  with  loving  words  of  comfort,  to  the  Leprosy 
Hospital,  where  he  forgot  everything  else  in  the  world  till  he  had 
prepared  that  precious  soul  for  heaven.  So  is  it  related  of  Pius 
IX.  that  he  found  a poor  plague-stricken  Jewess  one  day,  and  never 
quitted  her,  lavishing  on  her  every  care  his  charity  could  suggest, 
till  she  expired,  while  he  was  lifting  up  her  head  to  ease  it  in  its 
agony. 

When  the  plague  attacked  the  soldiers  of  the  French  garrison,  he 
could  find  no  rest  till  he  was  in  their  midst ; and  how  they  blessed 
him  ! When  later  the  poor  deluded  followers  of  Garibaldi  had  been 
wounded  and  taken  prisoners  in  an  attempt  on  Eome,  he  went 
among  them  to  console  and  care  for  them,  leaving  this  merciful 
labor  to  no  other  hands  than  his  own.  Did  he  win  their  hearts  ? 
Let  us  not  ask,  but  pass  on. 


* John  Francis  Maguire,  **  Rome  and  its  Ruler.” 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 


WOEKING  OP  THE  NeW  IkSTITUTIOHS — JUDGED  BY  ThIERS — By 

Palmerston — Baron  Sauzet  on  Roman  Legislation — The 
Mazzinian  Galeotti’s  Opinion — Administration  of  Ro- 
man Law — How  the  Rights  of  the  Poor  are  tenderly 

CARED  FOR — WhAT  PREVENTED  THE  PoPE’S  ReFORMS  FROM 
BEING  Effectual — Incredible  Duplicity  and  Sacrile- 
gious Haste  of  Piedmont — The  Roman  Question  in  the 
Congress  of  Paris  — Cavour’s  Calumnies  Refuted  by 
Count  de  Rayneval — Second  Encyclical  on  Italy — The 
Pope  resolves  to  Visit  his  Dominions. 

1850-1857. 

IX  September,  1849,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Holy  Father  had  pub- 
lished a decree  {mOtu  proprio)  reorganizing  the  government  of 
the  Pontifical  States  in  such  a way  as  to  make  the  institutions  there- 
by established  most  efficient  in  remedying  the  disorders  consequent 
on  the  late  revolution,  and  admirably  suited  to  the  needs  of  the 
country  and  the  character  of  the  people,  as  a preparation  toward  real 
constitutional  government.  The  two  chief  political  bodies  thus  cre- 
ated were  the  Council  of  State  and  the  Council  of  Finance. 

The  latter  managed  so  admirably  the  successive  yearly  budgets, 
that  in  presenting  the  project  for  that  of  1857,  the  expenses  only  ex- 
ceeded the  receipts  by  half  a million  dollars.  The  French  official 
Moniteur  remarked  thereon,  December  2,  1856:  ^‘If  one  only  re- 
members that  the  pontifical  government  has  had  to  take  up  and  cash 
forty  millions  of  worthless  paper  currency  bequeathed  by  the  repub- 
lic, one  cannot  help  feeling  astonished  that  at  the  end  of  seven  years 
of  financial  management  there  only  remains  a deficit  of  half  a million 
of  dollars.  By  persevering  in  this  path  the  government  and  the 
council  must  within  a very  short  period  arriv6  at  a perfect  financial 
equilibrium.” 

Meanwhile  the  French  republican  government  had  named  a com- 

329 


330 


Life^  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


mission  of  fifteen  eminent  statesmen  to  examine  and  report  on  the 
political  wisdom  and  practical  value  of  the  institutions  granted  to 
liis  States  by  Pius  IX.  The  report  -was  drawn  up,  signed,  and  pre- 
sented by  the  inveterate  foe  of  the  Holy  See,  M.  Thiers,  on  October 
the  13th,  1849.  Your  commission,”  it  is  said  in  the  report,  ‘^has 
maturely  examined  this  act  (the  motu  projprio),  ...  in  order 
to  see  if  the  counsels  which  France  believed  herself  authorized  to 
offer,  had  borne  such  fruits  as  to  prevent  her  regretting  having  inter- 
vened in  Koman  affairs.  Well,  by  a large  majority  (of  twelve  in  fif- 
teen) your  commission  declares  that  it  sees  in  the  motu  proprio  a 
first  boon  of  such  real  value,  that  nothing  but  unjust  pretensions 
could  overlook  its  importance.  We  shall  discuss  this  act  in  its  every 
detail.  But  limiting  ourselves  at  present  to  consider  the  principle 
on  which  is  based  the  pontifical  concession,  we  say  that  it  grants  all 
desirable  provincial  and  municipal  liberties.  As  to  political  liber- 
ties, consisting  in  the  power  of  deciding  on  the  public  business  of  a 
country  in  one  of  the  two  assemblies  and  in  union  with  the  executive 
— as  in  England,  for  instance — it  is  very  true  that  the  motu  proprio 
does  not  grant  this  sort  of  political  liberty,  or  only  grants  it  in  the 
rudimentary  form  of  a council  without  deliberative  voice. 

This  is  a question  of  immense  gravity,  which  the  Holy  Father 
alone  can  solve,  and  which  he  and  the  Christian  world  are  interested 
in  not  leaving  to  chance.  That  on  this  point  he  should  have 
chosen  to  be  prudent,  that  after  his  recent  experience  he  should 
have  preferred  not  to  reopen  a career  of  agitation  among  a people 
who  have  shown  themselves  so  unprepared  for  parliamentary  liberty, 
is  what  we  do  not  know  that  we  have  either  the  right  or  the  cause  to 
deem  blameworthy.” 

In  1856  Lord  Palmerston  said  of  this  same  act:  ^^We  all  know 
that,  on  his  restoration  to  his  States,  in  1849,  the  Pope  published  an 
ordinance  called  motu  proprio^  by  which  he  declared  his  intention 
to  bestow  institutions,  not  indeed  on  the  large  proportions  of  a con- 
stitutional government,  but  based  nevertheless  on  popular  election, 
and  which,  if  they  had  only  been  carried  out,  must  have  given  his 
subjects  such  satisfaction  as  to  render  unnecessary  the  intervention 
of  a foreign  army.” 

But  they  had  been  carried  out,  as  we  have  seen  .by  the  financial 
results  just  stated,  and  by  others  to  be  explained  presently ; and 
these  results  would  have  been  even  much  more  satisfactory  had  Lord 
Palmerston  and  Louis  Napoleon  and  Count  Cavour  given  the  Holy 


Opinions  of  Baron  SauzeL 


331 


Fathei  tlie  honest  and  open  support  of  their  respective  governments^ 
instead  of  thwarting  his  best  efforts  by  dishonest  intrigue,  dark  con- 
spiracy, and  open  misrepresentation. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  communal,  municipal,  and  provincial  liber- 
ties of  the  Koman  States  were  founded  on  a legislation  acknowledged 
to  be  the  most  admirable  in  existence,  and  on  a practice  and  customs 
going  back  to  the  remotest  period  of  Italian  civilization. 

Baron  Sauzet,  who  was  president  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in 
the  reign  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  who  is  not  suspected  of  being  too 
favorable  to  the  papacy,  thus  wrote,  in  1860,  of  the  system  of  legis- 
lation which  prevailed  in  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  on  which,  as 
on  a basis  as  solid  as  the  Apennines,  Pius  IX.  was  endeavoring  to 
build  the  improvements  demanded  by  modern  society; 

Criminal  procedure  and  penal  legislation  have  been  regulated  by 
the  codes  of  Gregory  XVL,  which  are  a true  progress,  and  in  which 
delays  and  not  severity  have  been  censured. 

The  old  Roman  law  has  remained  as  the  basis  of  the  civil  legis- 
lation of  Rome.  Certain  dispositions  thereof  have  been  adapted  by 
the  Popes  to  the  needs  of  various  ages  and  peoples. 

Except  these  special  points  of  great  delicacy,  on  which  every 
Christian  society  must  allow  religious  authority  alone  to  legislate,  the 
Roman  legislation  of  to-day  is  the  old  Roman  law  of  Justinian,  mod- 
ified in  some  points  by  the  ordinance  of  1834. 

The  changes  made  since  that  year  are  few,  and  pains  have  been 
taken  to  codify  them,  so  as  to  impart  to  them  a perfect,  scientific 
lucidity,  and  to  render  them  available  to  practitioners.  This  labor, 
carefully  prepared  by  the  Council  of  State,  is  at  present  in  the  hands 
of  a commission  composed  of  the  most  eminent  and  learned  jurists 
in  Rome.  . . . 

In  Rome  they  are  very  far  from  the  legislative  confusion  which 
obtains  in  England,  and  which  heaps  up  over  each  other  the  statutes 
of  preceding  epochs,  continually  making  new  laws  and  never  ab- 
rogating the  old,  maintaining  together  the  charters  of  the  Planta- 
genets,  the  edicts  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  ordinances  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria. The  Romans  have  not  made  of  legal  knowledge  a problema- 
tic science,  whose  secrets  are  held  and  sold  by  a few  privileged  sooth- 
sayers, whose  dark  depths  it  would  exhaust  the  largest  fortune  to 
explore,  and  to  the  possession  of  which  the  longest  lives  do  not  suf- 
fice. 

‘‘  Rome,  then,  possesses  a regular  legislation,  performing  its  func- 


33^ 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


tions  with  regularity,  based  on  foundations  laid  by  equity  itself,  and 
surrounded  by  the  reyerence  of  ages.”  * 

This  eminent  man  scouts  the  idea  of  imposing  on  the  Romans,  aa 
Louis  Napoleon  intended,  the  Code  Napoleon,  Galeotti,  who  bad 
been  minister  of  justice  under  Mazzini,  says  of  the  institutions  of 
the  Papal  States : In  the  pontifical  government  there  are  many 
parts  deserving  of  praise ; it  contains  many  ancient  institutions 
which  are  of  unquestioned  excellence,  and  there  are  others  of  more 
modem  date  which  the  other  provinces  of  Italy  might  well  envy. 
. . . One  may  say  confidently  that  there  is  no  other  government 

in  Italy  in  which  the  abstract  principle  of  discussion  and  delibera- 
tion has  been  so  long  established  and  so  generally  practiced.” 

Elsewhere,  speaking  of  the  judicature,  the  same  author  says  : 

The  tribunal  of  the  Rota  is  the  best  and  the  most  respected 
of  the  ancient  institutions  in  Rome ; some  slight  changes  would 
make  it  the  best  in  all  Europe.  . . . The  mode  of  procedure 

followed  in  it  is  excellent,  and  might  serve  as  a model  in  every 
country  where  people  would  not  have  the  administration  of  justice 
reduced  to  the  art  of  simply  terminating  lawsuits.” 

^'Law  expenses,”  says  Monsignor  Eevre,  “are  very  moderate,  the 
proceedings  are  very  rapid,  and  the  rules  of  the  judiciary  are  among 
the  very  best  of  the  kind.  Besides  the  poor  are  never  taxed  by  the 
courts,  while  they  are  always  supplied  with  counsel.  In  Rome  itself, 
the  pious  confraternity  of  St.  Yvo  (the  patron  saint  of  lawyers) 
takes  on  itself  gratuitously  the  cases  of  all  poor  people,  when  they 
appear  to  have  right  on  their  side.”  The  arch-confraternity  of  San 
Girolamo  della  Carita  also  undertakes  the  defense  of  prisoners  and 
poor  persons,  especially  widows.  “It  has  the  administration  of  a 
legacy  left  by  Felice  Amadori,  a noble  Florentine,  who  .died  in  the 
year  1639.  . . . The  principal  objects  of  their  solicitude  are 

persons  confined  in  prison ; these  they  visit,  comfort,  clothe,  and 
frequently  liberate,  either  by  paying  the  fine  imposed  on  them  as  a 
penalty  of  their  offense,  or  by  arranging  matters  with  their  credi- 
tors. . , . With  a wise  charity,  they  endeavor  to  simplify  and 

shorten  causes ; and  they  employ  a solicitor,  who  assists  in  arranging 
disputes,  and  thus  putting  an  end  to  litigation.  . . . This  con- 

fraternity embraces  the  fiower  of  the  Roman  prelacy,  the  patrician 
order,  and  the  priesthood.”  f 


♦ Rome  deeant  VEurope,  p.  173. 


f **  Rome  and  its  Rulers.' 


Piedmont  Neutralizes  Papal  Reforms.  333 

We  shall  presently  see  the  Holy  Father  foregoing,  seemingly,  eyery 
other  care,  even  those  of  his  vast  spiritual  administration,  to  examine, 
himself  in  person,  the  material  and  social  condition  of  every  part  of 
his  States.  In  the  meantime,  one  cannot  help  asking,  why  did  not 
the  institutions  granted  in  Gaeta,  and  enlarged  since  the  Pope^s 
return,  satisfy  his  people  ? Why  did  not  the  wise  improvements 
made  in  the  admirable  system  of  legislation  praised  by  Italians  and 
foreigners  alike,  convince  the  Romans  or  the  most  influential  among 
them,  that  they  had  but  little,  if  anything,  to  envy  in  the  institu- 
tions of  other  lands,  while  in  their  own  they  had  a sovereign  most 
desirous  of  bestowing,  in  addition  to  all  their  priceless  inherited 
blessings,  whatever  was  beneficial  in  modem  industry,  and  commer- 
cial freedom  ? 

The  answer  is  a plain  one  : Mazzinism  and  Piedmontism  never 
ceased  inculcating  on  the  Roman  mind  that  the  whole  system  of  law 
and  government  was  worthless,  vicious,  antiquated  and  illiberal, 
because  it  was  a ‘^clerical  system ; ” while  Piedmont,  by  sweeping 
away  whatever  past  ages  had  given  itself  of  priestly  privilege,  pre- 
rogative, power,  or  influence,  was  ever  challenging  the  praises  of 
Europe,  the  admiration  of  Young,  Italy,  and  the  imitation  of  the 
other  States  of  the  Peninsula. 

It  is  not  easy  to  convey  to  the  reader  any  adequate  conception  of 
the  radical  change  effected  by  such  men  as  Cavour  in  the  ancient 
Catholic  constitution  of  Savoy  and  Piedmont,  and  that  without  any- 
thing like  preparation  or  transition. 

A memorandum  sent  by  the  court  of  Rome  to  all  the  European 
governments  in  1856,  and  accompanied  with  a long  array  of  over- 
whelming documentary  evidence,  sets  forth  with  a masterly  ability 
the  persecutions  which  the  Church  had  to  endure  in  the  kingdom  of 
Sardinia  during  the  eight  preceding  years  ; the  incredible  duplicity 
with  which  the  Sardinian  government  persisted  in  sending  plenipo- 
tentiary after  plenipotentiary  to  the  Holy  See,  to  negotiate  new  con- 
cordats, while  it  refused  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to  hold  itself 
bound  by  any  concordat  whatever ; profiting  by  the  pretense  of 
negotiating  to  keep  up  in  Rome,  with  the  conspirators  and  the  dis- 
affected subjects  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  most  criminal  and  odious 
intrigues  against  his  authority,  while  in  Piedmont  and  the  island  of 
Sardinia  every  remnant  of  ecclesiastical  liberty,  every  distinctive 
Catholic  institution,  was  swept  away  in  spite  of  all  the  forms  of  jus- 


334  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

tice  and  in  violation  of  the  most  sacred  principles  of  international 
law.* 

It  was  a clever  stroke  of  policy  which  induced  Piedmont  to  join 
England  and  France  during  the  Crimean  war.  It  obtained  for  her 
a place  in  the  conference  of  Paris,  which  met  in  March,  1856.  It 
was  the  first  time  that  Turkey  or  Piedmont  had  been  admitted  to 
a seat  in  a European  Congress.  And  Cavour,  who  since  Novem- 
ber, 1852,  controlled  the  Turinese  parliament  and  ministry,  had 
achieved  a great  political  triumph  in  securing  the  open  counte- 
nance of  the  two  great  western  powers  for  the  prosecution  of  all  his 
designs  in  favor  of  Italian  unity  and  Piedmontese  supremacy. 

Peace  was  concluded  with  Eussia  on  March  the  28th,  and  the 
legitimate  labor  of  the  conference  seemed  to  be  ended.  But  on 
April  the  8th  a special  session  was  held,  at  which  Count  Cavour 
presented  a note  on  the  condition  of  the  Koman  States,  which  was  a 
solemn  arraignment  of  the  pontifical  government.  This  was  sup- 
ported by  Count  Walewski,  the  French  plenipotentiary,  and  by  Lord 
Clarendon,  the  British  minister.  The  Eussian  and  Austrian  repre- 
sentatives declined  discussing  the  matter,  as  not  within  the  scope  of 
their  instructions,  and  Baron  Manteuffel  gave  a very  guarded  answer. 
On  April  the  16th  a supplementary  note  was  addressed  to  the  French 
and  British  plenipotentiaries  by  Count  Cavour.  It  regrets  the  re- 
fusal of  the  other  powers  to  discuss  Italian  affairs,  reiterates  the 
former  accusations  against  the  Eoman  and  Neapolitan  governments, 
and  declares  that  the  popular  irritation,  which  had  been  somewhat 
calmed  by  the  hope  of  redress  from  the  powers,  must  now  burst 
forth  more  violently  than  ever  ; . . . that  the  Italians  will  surely 
enlist  with  a southern  ardor  in  the  ranks  of  the  revolutionary  and 
subversive  party,  and  that  Italy  will  become  once  more  a focus  of 
conspiracy  and  disorder.  . . . This  awakening  of  revolution- 
ary passions  in  the  countries  bordering  on  Piedmont  . . . must 

expose  it  to  dangers  of  exceeding  gravity.  . . . But  this  is  not 

the  only  danger  with  which  Sardinia  is  threatened ; a worse  peril 
comes  from  the  means  employed  by  Austria  to  repress  revolutionary 
fervor  in  Italy.” 

It  was  a threat  held  out  against  Austria  in  the  face  of  Europe,  and 


* See  Expose  corrobore  de  documents  sur  les  soina  incessant  par  lesquels  8a 
Saintete  s'est  efforcee  de  porter  remede  aux  maux  qua  souffre  VEglise  Catholiqus 
dans  le  Bogaume  de  Sardaigne. 


Cavour  Refuted  by  De  RayjtevaL 


33^ 


with  the  seeming  acquiescence  of  England  and  France.  It  is  not  to 
be  forgotten,  however,  that  the  question  was  introduced  by  Count 
Walewski,  the  president  of  the  conference.  Lord  Clarendon’s  propo- 
sition, more  clearly  even  than  Count  Cavour’s,  proposed  ‘‘the  com- 
plete secularization  of  the  pontifical  government  and  the  organization 
of  an  administrative  system  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age, 
and  aiming  at  the  happiness  of  the  people.”  In  conformity  with 
Cavour’s  plan,  the  Legations  were  first  to  be  organized  under  a lay 
government  with  a national  army. 

This  dismemberment  of  the  papal  territory  was  not  put  forward  in 
vain.  It  was  an  idea  cast  into  the  Italian  mind  to  fructify  there. 

Unfortunately  for  Cavour  and  his  calumnies,  the  French  govern- 
ment had  instructed  its  ambassador  in  Eome,  the  Count  de  Eayneval, 
to  make  the  most  searching  inquiry  into  the  whole  framework  of 
the  pontifical  government,  the  reforms  made  by  Pius  IX.,  the  neces- 
sity of  a further  secularization  of  the  administration,  the  condition 
of  the  papal  finances,  the  state  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  in- 
dustry ; the  causes  of  dissatisfaction  existing  among  the  people  of 
Eome  and  the  provinces,  and  their  real  wishes  in  regard  to  a change 
of  rulers,  etc. 

. The  inquiry  was  made  with  a thoroughness,  an  intelligence,  and  a 
fair-mindedness  beyond  all  praise ; and  on  May  the  14th,  eight  days 
after  the  last  philippic  of  Count  Cavour  against  the  Holy  See,  M. 
De  Eayneval  sent  his  report  to  Count  Walewski.  Nothing  was  heard 
of  it  till  March,  1857,  when  the  London  Daily  News  published  an 
English  translation.  It  next  appeared,  translated  from  the  English, 
in  the  Indeyendance  Beige  of  Brussels,  and  was  thence  borrowed  by 
the  French  press.  It  was  impossible  to  give  a more  direct  and  tri- 
umphant refutation  of  the  unblushing  assertions  of  Cavour  and  the 
hackneyed  accusations  of  the  entire  Liberal  press  of  Europe.  (See 
“ Eome  and  its  Euler.”) 

The  imperial  government  of  France  had  its  own  reasons  for  with- 
holding this  remarkable  State  paper  from  the  public.  A copy,  how- 
ever, had  been  sent  to  Lord  Clarendon,  and  thus  found  its  way  to 
the  English  public,  and  back  again  to  the  continental  press.  Lord 
Clarendon  lost  no  time  in  reproving  Count  Cavour  for  the  bad  faith 
displayed  in  his  proceedings  at  the  conference,  and  the  sanction 
which  the  British  plenipotentiary  had  thereby  been  induced  to  give 
to  what  was  simply  a tissue  of  misrepresentations. 

To  these — and  that  before  Count  de  Eayneval’s  dispatch  had  been 


336 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


made  public — the  Holy  Father  replied  by  a second  encyclical  to  the 
bishops  of  Italy  on  August  the  10th,  1856.  It  is  in  such  authentic 
documents  that  posterity  will  study  and  admire  the  great  soul  of 
Pius  IX.,  and  that  lofty  spirit  of  faith  and  courage  which  enabled 
him  to  see  providence  permitting  for  a while  the  triumph  of  the 
wicked,  in  order  to  purify  and  exalt  the  good,  and  moving  the  earth, 
in  his  appointed  time,  to  free  his  Church  from  the  domination  of 
the  oppressor. 

While  praising  the  heroic  constancy  of  the  archbishops,  bishops, 
and  priests,  so  violently  persecuted  in  Piedmont  and  Sardinia  for 
conscience’  sake,  the  sovereign  pontiff  repeats  his  condemnation  of 
the  various  laws  enacted  by  the  Turinese  legislature  against  the 
Church  and  her  imprescriptible  rights,  and  his  censure  of  various 
errors  denounced  and  proscribed  in  preceding  allocutions.  One  error 
in  particular  meets  the  Holy  Father’s  reprobation,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  he  gives  an  admirable  and  authoritative  explanation  of  the 
saying,  ^^Out  of  the  Church  there  is  no  salvation.” 

^‘On  this  occasion,”  the  encyclical  says,  ^'we  must  once  more 
recall  and  stigmatize  the  serious  error  into  which  certain  Catholics 
have  fallen. 

They  believe  that  one  can  attain  eternal  life  by  living  (volunta- 
rily) in  error,  far  away  from  the  true  faith  and  Catholic  unity.  This 
is  formally  in  opposition  to  Catholic  teaching.  We  know — and  you 
know — that  persons  who  are  in  invincible  ignorance  of  our  holy 
faith,  who  are  careful  to  follow  the  natural  law  and  its  dictates, 
graven  as  they  are  by  God  in  the  hearts  of  all,  and  who  lead  an  hon- 
orable and  righteous  life,  can,  with  the  aid  of  the  divine  light  and 
grace,  acquire  eternal  life.  For  God  perfectly  sees,  searches,  knows 
the  spirits  of  men,  their  souls,  thoughts,  and  habits ; and  in  his 
supreme  goodness  and  boundless  mercy  he  permits  no  one  to  suffer 
eternal  chastisement  who  has  not  been  guilty  of  voluntary  transgres- 
sion. 

But  we  are  also  acquainted  with  the  Catholic  axiom,  that  out  of 
the  Church  there  is  no  salvation ; that  is,  that  no  one  can  obtain 
eternal  salvation  while  remaining  rebellious  to  the  authority  and  de- 
cisions of  the  Church,  while  persisting  obstinately  in  remaining 
separated  from  her  unity  and  from  the  communion  of  the  Roman 
pontiff,  the  successor  of  that  Peter  to  whom  our  Lord  intrusted  the 
keeping  of  his  vineyard.  . . . 

Far  be  it,  however,  from  the  children  of  the  Church  to  become 


True  Charity  and  True  Patriotism. 


337 


the  enemies  of  such  as  are  not  united  to  us  by  the  ties  of  religious 
faith  and  charity.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  hound  to  render  such 
persons  all  the  services  prompted  by  Christian  charity,  wheneyei 
they  find  them  in  poverty,  in  sickness,  and  in  distress  of  any  kind ; 
they  should  assist  them  in  every  way,  laboring  chiefly  to  dispel 
the  darkness  in  which  they  live,  to  bring  them  to  the  Church, 
their  loving  mother,  whose  arms  are  ever  opened  wide  to  embrace 
them.  . . 

The  exhortations  given  in  the  letter  from  Gaeta  are  here  briefly 
and  earnestly  repeated.  So  many  persons  of  all  orders,  and  of  both 
sexes,  have  suffered  for  the  faith  during  these  sad  years  ! There  is  a 
heartfelt  tribute  of  praise  for  all  who  have  been  true  to  God  and 
their  conscience.  And  then,  '‘In  the  midst  of  our  accumulated 
bitterness,  and  of  the  storm  raised  against  us,  we  must  not  be  cast 
down.  ...  Is  not  Christ  our  light  and  our  strength  ? . . . 

Know  we  not  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  his 
Church  ? She  has  ever  been  and  shall  ever  continue  to  be  preserv^ed 
without  stain  beneath  the  sheltering  arms  of  Christ,  who  is  her 
builder,  and  who  was  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  the  same  for- 
ever. ’’ 

But  the  Pope  had  resolved  to  leave  nothing  undone  that  he  could 
do,  in  order  to  know  to  the  fullest  extent,  and  in  every  detail,  what 
was  the  condition  of  every  part  of  his  dominions,  what  the  griev- 
ances, real  or  imaginary,  of  every  class  of  his  subjects  therein,  what  the 
resources  developed  and  undeveloped,  and  the  needs  and  aspirations 
of  every  one  of  his  children,  so  far  as  his  own  personal  observation 
could  ascertain,  and  his  utmost  devotion  could  supply  a remedy  to 
every  ill,  and  aid  in  perfecting  what  was  good.  He  was  nearly  a 
septuagenarian,  and  expected  to  be  soon  called  to  his  dread  account ; 
his  every  minute  and  energy  thenceforward  should  be  given  more 
than  ever  to  the  one  supreme  purpose  of  saving  by  sheer  generosity, 
in  the  discharge  of  his  double  office  of  pontiff  and  prince,  every  soul 
confided  to  him. 

So,  in  the  beginning  of  May,  1857,  just  when,  unexpectedly  to 
him,  all  Europe  was  thrown  into  a ferment  by  the  publication  of 
Count  de  Rayneval’s  dispatch,  the  heroic  old  man  set  out  from 
Rome,  resolved  not  to  return  thither  till  he  had,  so  far  as  one  in  his 
position  could,  seen  and  heard  every  one  of  his  subjects.  He  had 
made  a public  vow  some  time  previously  to  visit  the  sanctuary  of 
Loreto,  in  order  there  to  recommend  the  perils  of  his  people  and  the 
22 


338 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


dearest  interests  of  religion  to  the  Immaculate  Mother  of  Christ,  and 
to  beseech  her  visible  protection  amid  the  growing  tempest. 

On  the  4th  of  May  the  Holy  Father  set  out  from  Home,  having 
with  him,  beside  the  ministers  whose  presence  was  not  indispensable 
in  Eome,  a select  body  of  prelates  and  lay  officers  whose  duty  should 
be,  during  the  journey,  to  collect  the  most  accurate  information 
about  the  wants  of  the  people  and  the  improvements  of  every  kind 
needed  in  each  locality.  Among  the  prelates  were  Monsignori  De 
Merode,  Talbot,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  Borromeo,  and  Berardi,  every 
one  of  them  distinguished  alike  for  high  birth  and  great  ability,  and 
representing  the  great  European  nationalities. 


CHAPTER  XXYIII. 


Modern-  Rome  Created  amid  Ruins  — Catholic  Creations 

THROUGHOUT  THE  CaMPAGNA — PIEDMONT  UNDOING  WHAT 

THE  Popes  had  done — An  Instance  on  the  Pope’s  Route — 
Monte  Soratte  and  its  Monasteries — The  Pope’s  Journey 
A Serious  Tour  of  Inspection — Work  done  and  Improve- 
ments ORDERED — Munificence  of  Pius  TX. — Royal  Visi- 
tors— The  Pope  in  Modena  and  Tuscany — His  Return 
to  Rome — The  true  Mortar  a Case — The  Mazzinians  Im- 
patient— Orsini’s  Attempt  to  Murder  Napoleon  III. — 
When  and  How  the  War  of  1859  was  Planned — Europe 
Mystified  by  Napoleon  and  Cavour — Garibaldi’s  Execu- 
tive Programme. 


1857-1859. 


HE  Rome  of  our  days,  as  is  well  known,  was  built  up  at  first  by 


-L  the  Popes  amid  the  ruins  left  behind  by  time  and  the  barba- 
rians. The  region  around  the  city,  the  Agro  Romano,  or  the  Cam- 
pagna  in  its  narrowest  sense,  was  necessarily  allowed  to  remain  what 
the  destroyers  had  left  it,  a wilderness  of  ruin  ; which  gradually  be- 
came an  uncultivated,  uninhabited  waste,  scarred  by  the  long  lines 
of  the  ancient  paved  roads  or  crumbling  aqueducts,  dotted  by  frag- 
ments of  pagan  temples,  patrician  villas  and  tombs,  and  the  conical 
huts  of  the  modern  shepherds.  In  the  time  of  St.  Augustine  and 
St.  J erome  this  abandoned  and  untenanted  tract  had  become  a hot- 
bed of  malarial  diseases.  During  the  next  three  or  four  centuries, 
while  Greek  and  Goth  and  Hun  and  Frank  and  Saracen  swept 
over  it  together  or  successively,  no  farmer  would  have  dared  to  cul- 
tivate its  most  lovely  portions,  even  had  they  been  free  from  the 
scourge  of  fever,  for  the  worse  scourge  of  human  rapacity  always 
hung  over  it.  And  so  it  went  on  increasing  in  desolation  and  sick- 
liness, till  it  became  as  hopelessly  a desert  as  the  plain  of  Egyptian 
Thebes  or  the  sandy  expanse  of  the  Sahara. 

The  half -educated  traveler  who  crosses  it  from  Civita  Vecchia  to 


339 


340 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Rome,  or  who  looks  down  upon  it  from  some  of  the  hills  near  the 
city,  will  find  in  its  silence  and  desolateness  a ready  argument 
against  the  priestly  rule  of  the  Popes,  and  the  unthriftiness  of  Catho- 
lic populations  in  general.  Not  so  the  man,  be  his  religion  what  it 
may,  who  has  well  read  the  story  of  the  past. 

Many  a Pope  before  Pius  IX.  had  tried,  and  tried  in  vain,  to  re- 
claim the  Campagna,  as  well  as  to  drain  the  Pontine  Marshes.  And 
Pius  IX.  was  too  earnest  in  seeking  to  repair  and  to  improve,  not  to 
have  endeavored  to  reclaim  this  wilderness  from  fever  and  unpro- 
ductiveness. 

As  he  and  his  cortege  sped,  on  that  lovely  4th  of  May,  northward 
along  the  valley  of  the  Tiber  toward  the  distant  Sabine  mountains, 
the  malarial  season  had  already  set  in,  though  the  Campagna  was 
still  most  beautiful  to  look  upon,  with  its  rank  vegetation,  and  its 
profusion  of  wild  fiowers,  every  mound  they  met  on  their  way  cover- 
ing some  city  more  ancient  than  Rome  itself,  and  the  hillsides 
covered  with  flowering  arbusts  and  vines,  ancient  tombs  rifled  of 
their  dead  and  their  treasures  long  ago  peeping  out  amid  the  red 
tufa,  the  hilltops  crested  with  the  remains  of  Sabine  or  Pelasgian 
structures — the  silent  witnesses  of  mighty  races  and  civilizations  long 
passed  away. 

Whatever  there  is  of  life  and  thrift  and  beauty  and  happiness  in 
the  towns  and  cities  that  rise  up  before  the  pilgrims,  from  Parfa  and 
Casamari  to  the  distant  Loreto  on  the  populous  Adriatic  shore,  is 
chiefly  due,  under  God’s  bounty,  to  the  fostering  care  of  the  Roman 
pontiffs. 

It  was  the  first  time  since  that  memorable  mid-June  of  1846  that 
the  present  sovereign  of  the  Roman  States  had  been  able  to  retrace 
his  steps  along  that  well-known  road.  How  little  had  the  arch- 
bishop-bishop of  Imola  imagined,  as  he  then  hastened  to  the  obse- 
quies of  Gregory  XYI.,  that  on  himself  should  soon  devolve  the 
responsibility  of  continuing  the  fatherly  rule  of  this  long  line  of 
peaceful  sovereigns,  and  the  terrible  sorrow  of  seeing  his  beneficent 
authority  usurped  by  a power  as  anti-Catholic  in  its  aims  as  the 
fiercest  Arian  emperors  of  old,  as  anti-Christian  as  Hun  or  Moham- 
medan, as  untruthful  and  unprincipled  as  the  worst  Greek  who  ever 
disgraced  the  throne  of  Constantine. 

But  Pius  IX.,  as  beautiful  city  after  beautiful  city  arose  before 
him  on  his  way,  and  sent  forth  to  greet  him  clergy  and  people  in 
their  best  holiday  attire  and  with  words  of  reverential  and  loving 


The  Creations  of  Catholic  Ge^iius,  341 

welcome,  only  thought  how  he  could  repair  in  his  own  day  all  the 
omissions  of  the  past,  and  satisfy,  in  accomplishing  his  own  cher- 
ished designs,  the  lawful  yearnings  of  every  soul  among  these  mul- 
titudes. 

There  were,  among  the  deep  valleys  of  the  Sabine  mountains,  as 
among  the  savage  solitudes  of  the  more  distant  Apennines,  monastic 
establishments,  first  planted  there  long  ages  ago  by  St.  Benedict  or 
his  disciples,  or  some  religious  exile,  like  Athanasius,  forced  to  fly 
from  the  fell  fury  of  Arianism.  These  pioneers  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion and  supernatural  sanctity,  in  an  age  when  might  was  the  only 
law,  and  violence  ruled  Europe  as  well  as  Asia,  had  gone  away  inta 
the  most  inaccessible  wilds,  and  sought  a peaceful  refuge  where 
human  habitation  had  never  been,  and  where  human  cupidity  had 
no  motive  to  venture.  Thus  grew  up  Subiaco  and  Farfar  and  Casa- 
mari  and  Monte  Cassino  and  Grotta  Ferrata  and  Trisulti  and  Fos- 
sanuova,  like  Monte  Luco  near  Spoleto.  Monastic  industry  trans- 
formed the  very  rock  into  forms  of  lasting  beauty ; monastic  holiness 
covered  with  every  flower  of  heaven  the  crags  and  precipices  which 
repelled  not  only  the  robber,  but  even  the  wild  beast.  And  soon 
around  the  monastery  farmers  fleeing  from  the  ravaged  lowlands,  or 
goatherds  tempted  thither  with  their  flocks,  sought  a refuge  beneath 
the  sheltering  arms  of  piety,  and  built  themselves  there  a home. 
Thus  the  hermit’s  cell  among  the  most  frightful  crags  became  a 
centre  for  a new  civilization. 

Little  dreamed  Pius  IX.,  as  he  sought  to  revive  in  these  far-famed 
abodes  of  ancient  learning  and  world-renowned  holiness  the  pristine 
spirit  of  fervor,  the  equal  thirst  for  the  culture  of  science  and  of 
sanctity,  that  within  his  own  lifetime  an  Italian  sovereign  and 
Italian  statesmen  would  glory  in  driving  forth  the  peaceful  inmates 
of  these  monasteries — homeless,  penniless,  helpless — into  the  world 
from  which  they  had  withdrawn  forever. 

Near  Civita  Castellana,  the  Falerium  Vetus  of  the  Eomans,  occu- 
pying the  site  of  a Pelasgian  stronghold,  is  Monte  Soratte  (the 
Soracte  of  the  Latins),  2,270  feet  above  the  lower  Campagna.  It 
forms,  in  its  isolation,  the  most  conspicuous  object  between  Eome 
and  the  mountains,  its  very  summit  being  crowned  with  the  monas- 
tery of  St.  Sylvester,  Pope — the  friend  of  Constantine  the  Great. 
There  it  stands,  '^perched  on  the  highest  points  of  the  perpendicu- 
lar crags,  its  walls  one  with  their  precipices.  • . . . It  is  a sub- 

lime position,  removed  from  and  above  everything  else.  Hawks 


342 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


circle  around  its  huge  cliffs,  and  are  the  only  sign  of  life.  . . , 
To  these  solitudes  came  Constantine  to  seek  for  Sylvester  the  hermit, 
whom  he  found  here  in  a cave,  and  led  away  to  raise  to  the  papal 
throne,  walking  before  him  as  he  rode  upon  his  mule,  as  is  repre- 
- sen  ted  in  the  ancient  frescoes  of  the  Quattro  Incoronati.  The  ora- 
tory of  St.  Sylvester  was  inclosed  in  a monastery  founded  in  746  by 
Carloman,  son  of  Charles  Martel,  and  uncle  of  Charlemagne,  and 
though  later  buildings  have  succeeded  upon  the  same  spot,  and  the 
existing  edifice  is  externally  of  1500,  it  incloses  much  of  the  church 
of  Carloman  and  the  more  ancient  hermitage  of  St.  Sylvester. 

‘‘The  walls  of  the  church  are  covered  with  medieval  frescoes, 
fading,  but  still  very  beautiful.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance  is  S. 
Buenaventura ; then  come  S.  Anne,  the  Virgin,  S.  Eoch,  and  S.  Se- 
bastian, but  all  have  been  much  injured  by  the  goatherds,  who  used 
to  shelter  their  fiocks  here  when  the  church  was  utterly  deserted. 
The  beautiful  old  high  altar  is  richly  carved  in  stone  taken  from  the 
mountain  itself.  Beneath  the  lofty  tribune  is  the  cell  of  Sylvester, 
half  cut  in  the  mountain.  It  incloses  the  sloping  mass  of  rock 
which  formed  the  bed  of  his  hermitage,  and  his  stone  seat.  Here  is 
also  the  altar  on  which,  first  Sylvester  himself,  and  afterward  Greg- 
ory the  Great,  said  mass.  Behind  the  convent  is  its  little  garden, 
where  legend  tells  that  S.  Sylvester  would  sow  one  day  his  turnips 
for  the  meal  of  the  morrow,  and  that  they  were  miraculously  brought 
to  perfection  during  the  night.  There  is  a grand  view  from  this 
over  all  the  wide-spreading  country,  but  especially  into  the  gorges  of 
the  Sabina,  and  the  monks  described  the  beautiful  effect  when  each 
of  the  countless  villages,  which  can  be  seen  from  hence,  lights  its 
bonfire  on  the  eve  of  the  Ascension. 

“A  carriage  can  ascend  the  mountain  as  far  as  S.  Oreste,  and  here 
we  left  it  and  followed  a footpath.  It  is  about  two  miles  to  the  top. 
Most  of  the  convents  are  in  ruins.  By  the  pilgrim’s  road,  which 
winds  through  an  avenue  of  ancient  ilexes  and  elms,  we  reached  the 
gates  of  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie.  The  long  drive,  and  the  steep 
walk  in  the  great  heat,  had  made  us  faint  with  hunger  and  thirst. 
The  monks  came  out  with  wine,  and  slices  of  Bologna  sausage,  and 
delicious  coarse  bread,  to  a room  at  the  gate — for  ladies  are  not 
allovred  to  enter  the  walls — and  never  was  refreshment  more  accept- 
able. There  are  only  thirteen  monks  now,  who  live  an  active  life  of 
charity,  and  whose  advice  and  instruction  are  widely  sought  by  the 
country  people  around.  There  is  little  fear  of  their  suppression,  as 


Monastic  Poverty  a7id  Charity, 


343 


tliey  have  scarcely  any  finances,  and  their  humble  dwellings  on  the 
bare  crag  could  not  be  sold  for  anything,  and  would  be  useless  to 
the  present  government. 

Those  we  saw  were  a grand  group  ; one,  a tall  and  commanding 
figure,  with  handsome  face  and  hashing  eyes,  told  us  of  the  peace 
and  blessing  he  received  from  his  solitary  life  here,  and  of  the  ever- 
growing interest  of  the  place  and  all  its  associations ; another,  of  a 
coarse  common  expression,  spoke  in  murmuring  tones,  and  was  skep- 
tical about  all  histories,  which  he  wound  up  always  by  E tradizione, 
such  is  the  tradition ; ’ a third  was  an  old  venerable  man  of  eighty- 
six,  who  had  passed  his  life  in  these  solitudes,  a life  so  evidently 
given  up  to  prayer  that  his  spirit  seemed  only  half  to  belong  to 
earth. 

We  spoke  to  him  of  the  change  which  was  coming  over  the 
monastic  life,  but  he  did  not  murmur.  Only  when  we  talked  of  the 
great  poverty  of  the  people  from  the  present  taxation,  and  of  their 
reduced  means  of  helping  them,  he  lamented  a little.  He  said  the 
people  came  to  him  every  day,  and  they  asked  why  they  had  such 
sufferings  to  bear ; that  they  had  been  quite  happy  before,  and  had 
never  wished  or  sought  for  any  change  ; and  that  he  urged  them  to 
patience  and  prayer,  and  to  the  faith  that  though  outward  events 
might  change,  and  earthly  comforts  be  swept  away,  God,  who  led 
his  children  by  mysterious  teaching  which  we  could  not  fathom,  was 
himself  always  the  same. 

The  three  monks  went  with  us  to  the  top,  accompanied  us  on 
our  return  as  far  as  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie,  and  as  we  turned  to 
descend  the  mountain-path,  the  old  monk  of  eighty-six,  standing  at 
the  head  of  the  steps,  stretched  out  his  hands  and  most  solemnly 
blessed  us  : ‘ May  the  blessed  Saviour  keep  and  guide  you,  and  may 
his  holy  angels  walk  with  you  in  all  your  ways  ! ’ ” 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  Hare,  and  his  account  of  these  mountain- 
sanctuaries  which  he  visited  in  1874.  The  reader  may  thus  anti- 
cipate the  baneful  changes  that  mark  the  reign  of  Victor  Emmanuel 
and  Garibaldi. 

A railroad,  one  of  the  fulfilled  dreams  of  Pius  IX. ’s  princely 
solicitude,  now  connects  Eome  with  the  scenes  here  described.  It 
throws  out  a branch  at  Orte,  the  main  trunk  skirting  the  southern 
border  of  Umbria  to  Orvieto,  and  thence  to  Elorence,  the  branch 
turning  away  from  the  Tiber,  and  climbing  by  rapid  gradients  to 
Narni  and  Spoleto  and  Eoligno,  where  it  again  divides,  sending  one 


344  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

arm  across  tlie  Apennines  to  Ancona  and  the  other  by  Perugia  and 
Arezzo  to  Florence. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  journey  from  first  to  last  was 
one  continuous  ovation.  There  was  no  need  of  official  artifices  to 
call  the  people  from  their  homes  to  greet  their  sovereign.  All  the 
calumnies  uttered  by  the  press  of  the  revolution,  all  the  blood  shed 
and  the  wrongs  inflicted  by  its  leaders,  had  only  made  Pius  IX.  the 
more  dear  to  the  hearts  of  his  people.  But  as  he  approached  his 
former  diocese  of  Spoleto  the  reception  assumed  a most  touching 
character.  The  evidences  of  a love  and  veneration  which  tim*e  and 
distance  had  not  weakened  were  multiplied  at  every  step.  The  rules 
of  State  etiquette  had  to  be  laid  aside  ; for  all,  young  and  old,  wished 
to  see  their  former  good  shepherd,  and  he  would  see  them  and  con- 
verse with  them.  He  seemed  never  to  forget  a face  once  familiar  or 
a name  known  in  former  years.  The  members  of  the  clergy  whom 
he  had  ordained,  or  who  had  begun  their  training  under  him,  were 
special  objects  of  his  regard. 

And  thus  the  pilgrimage  continued  to  Loreto.  But  we  are  not  to 
suppose  that  the  Pope  allowed  his  time  in  each  locality  to  be  spent 
in  idle  pageantry,  or  in  official  receptions  and  speech-making.  Every- 
where the  authorities  were  encouraged  or  commanded  to  make  known 
to  the  sovereign  in  person  what  most  needed  reform  and  improve- 
ment. Xo  person,  high  or  low,  who  had  a complaint  to  make  or  a 
petition  to  offer,  was  rebuked  or  sent  away  on  pretext  of  stress  of  oc- 
cupation or  want  of  time.  The  Holy  Father  would  persist  in  stay- 
ing in  every  place  till  all  had  an  opportunity  of  addressing  him,  and 
till  his  officers  had  inspected  and  seen  everything  within  the  scope 
of  their  instructions. 

‘‘Up  to  the  month  of  June,”  says  IMaguire,  “no  less  than  30,000 
petitions  had  been  received  by  the  Pope  in  the  course  of  his  tour, 
and  many  thousands  in  addition  were  presented  to  him  before  he 
returned  to  Rome.  Certainly  there  has  been  nothing  hidden  by  the 
people  from  the  eyes  of  their  sovereign. 

“To  those  in  prison  the  Pope  has  exhibited  his  characteristic 
clemency,  by  granting  six  months^  ‘ grace’  to  all  save  the  worst 
characters,  whose  liberation  would  have  been  a great  evil  to  the  com- 
munity. To  political  prisoners  he  has  been  equally  compassionate. 
To  the  middle  of  J une,  he  had  liberated  or  ‘ graced  ’ twenty-four  of 
this  class  of  offenders.  To  four,  who  were  exiles,  he  granted  per- 
mission to  return  to  Rome ; to  three  he  has  remitted  part  of  their 


His  Clemency  and  Practical  Wisdom.  346 

punishment ; and  seventeen  he  has  entirely  liberated.  Previous  to 
his  leaving  Rome,  the  Holy  Father  had  given  freedom  to  two  men, 
who  were,  to  say  the  least,  among  the  most  prominent  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  namely,  Sterbinetti  (the  infamous  president  of  the 
Council  of  Deputies  at  the  time  of  Rossi’s  murder)  and  Galeotti 
(one  of  Mazzini’s  ministers).  ” * 

So  anxious  was  the  Holy  Father  to  make  this  personal  inspection 
of  his  States  one  of  the  utmost  practical  utility,  that  in  1855  he  sent 
one  of  his  most  enlightened  young  prelates.  Monsignor  (now  cardi- 
nal) Berardi,  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  making  a thorough 
study  of  all  that  concerns  the  civil  administration  of  that  coun- 
try. ^‘Prisons,  hospitals,  docks,  revenue,  finance,  police,  and  even 
the  condition  of  the  lowest  criminal  classes — everything  (says  Sir 
George  Bowyer)  engaged  his  acute  and  active  mind.”  With  such 
persons  by  his  side,  Pius  IX.  tried  to  hear  everything  and  to  see 
‘ everything,  so  that  no  evil  should  be  left  unremedied,  and  nothing 
faulty  unreformed. 

From  the  lamented  author  of  '^Rome  and  its  Ruler,”  who  was  on 
the  spot  and  obtained  his  information  from  ofiicial  sources,  we  can 
gather  some  of  the  most  prominent  results  of  this  tour  of  inspec- 
tion, which  many  of  Pius  IX. ’s  detractors  took  pains  to  represent  as 
a journey  undertaken  for  mere  personal  ostentation. 

The  port  of  Pesaro  was  to  be  almost  entirely  reconstructed,  the 
Holy  Father  contributing  $80,000  from  his  own  resources  ; the  port 
of  Sinigaglia  was  also  materially  improved  and  a new  sanitary  office 
built ; the  cities  of  Ancona  and  Civita  Vecchia  were  to  be  enlarged  ; 
at  Bologna  the  high  street  was  enlarged  and  beautified,  and  the 
beautiful  fagade  of  the  cathedral  was  to  be  completed,  the  Pope  con- 
tributing for  his  share  $5,000  for  fifteen  years.  At  Perugia  new 
prisons  were  to  be  constructed,  the  condition  of  the  prisoners  to  be 
improved  in  every  way ; and  a generous  yearly  contribution  was  given 
toward  preserving  the  splendid  native  collections  of  art.  Ravenna, 
in  all  her  long  neglect  and  decay,  was  not  forgotten;  Pius  IX. 
wished  to  revive  something  of  the  ancient  commercial  prosperity  of 
the  place,  and  promised  $4,000  annually  for  ten  years  toward  im- 
proving the  port.  At  Ferrara  many  improvements  were  ordered, 
and  $9,000  were  contributed  toward  the  completion  of  the  Pamfilic 
Canal ; he  also  established  a commission  of  engineers  for  the  purpose 


* ‘‘Rome  and  its  Ruler,”  c.  xli. 


346 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


of  devising  a plan  for  turning  tlie  river  Reno  into  tlie  Po,  and  thus 
saving  a large  tract  of  fertile  country  from  periodical  inundation. 
At  Eecanati  a relief  fund  for  poor  sailors  was  established  ; at  Com- 
macchio  a grant  was  given  for  an  artesian  well ; at  Ascoli,  for  a 
bridge ; at  Pesaro,  Macerata,  Imola,  Camerino,  and  other  places 
generous  sums  were  given  for  the  improvement  of  the  public  roads  ; 
telegraphic  stations  were  ordered  in  every  place  of  importance. 

There  is  not,”  says  Maguire,  “a  prison,  an  hospital,  or  a school 
which  has  not  been  inspected,  either  by  himself  personally  or  by  his 
orders ; and  it  was  the  first  duty  of  Monsignor  de  Murode,  on  his 
arrival  in  every  city  or  town,  to  visit  its  prison,  thoroughly  examine 
into  all  its  details,  and  specially  repoii;  upon  it.  Monsignor  Talbot 
aided  in  effecting  many  valuable  reforms  in  the  charitable,  educa- 
tional, and  industrial  institutions  of  the  Papal  States.” 

At  Perugia  the  Holy  Father  received  the  visit  of  the  Archduke 
Charles  of  Tuscany,  sent  by  his  father,  Leopold,  to  compliment  the 
vicar  of  Christ ; at  Pesaro  he  received  the  Archduke  Maximilian 
of  Austria,  who  did  not  then  dream  of  a Mexican  empire  and  its 
tragic  downfall,  forsaken  and  betrayed  by  Napoleon  III.  ; at  Bologna^ 
the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  and  his  entire  family,  and  the  Dukes  of 
Parma  and  Modena  came  to  ofier  their  homage.  He  could  not  refuse 
the  pressing  invitation  to  visit  Tuscany  and  Modena,  the  sovereigns 
honoring  themselves  in  presence  of  their  subjects  by  showing  the 
Holy  Father  in  public  the  reverence  which  recalled  the  legends  of 
the  middle  ages.  ‘^He  introduced  us  himself  into  Florence,”  says 
Pius  IX.,  speaking  of  the  Grand  Duke  Leopold,  ‘^walking  by  our 
side,  and  accompanied  us  to  every  Tuscan  city  which  we  visited.  . . 

All  the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  his  States,  all  the  clergy,  the  cor- 
porate bodies,  the  magistrates,  the  nobles,  showed  tlieir  delight  by 
testifying  their  devotion  to  us  in  a thousand  ways.  Not  only  in 
Florence,  but  wherever  we  went  in  Tuscany,  the  people  from  towm 
and  country,  far  and  near,  came  forth  to  greet  us,  acclaiming  the 
chief  pontiff  of  the  Church  with  such  ardent  affection,  showing 
such  an  intense  desire  of  seeing  him,  doing  him  reverence,  receiv- 
ing his  benediction,  that  our  fatherly  heart  was  moved  to  its  very 
depth.” 

He  returned  to  Rome  on  September  the  5th,  and  marked  his 
return  by  a princely  distribution  of  alms  and  food  to  the  poor, 
ransomed  a number  of  debtors,  and  performed  several  graceful  acta 
of  clemency. 


The  Truth  in  the  Mortar  a Case. 


347 


The  Romans,  on  their  side,  were  anxious  to  give  their  sovereign 
a family  feast.  On  the  8th  was  uncovered  and  blessed  by  the 
sovereign  pontiff  the  splendid  monument  erected  on  the  Piazza  di 
Spagna,  in  commemoration  of  the  definition  of  December  the  8th, 
1854.  There  was  a brilliant  illumination  in  the  evening,  and  Pius 
IX.  felt  grateful,  amid  all  the  signs  of  coming  trouble,  that  his 
Immaculate  Mother’s  birth-day  had  been  thus  celebrated  in  his 
honor. 

In  November,  1857,  happened  the  affair  of  the  boy  Edgar  Mor- 
tara,  which  furnished  a rich  theme  to  the  anti-Catholic  press  of  Pied- 
mont and  France,  as  well  as  to  the  Protestant  press  and  pulpit  of  the 
entire  English-speaking  world.  It  was  a very  simple  question  when 
examined  calmly  and  equitably  by  reasonable  and  impartial  men. 

An  ancient  law  of  the  Roman  States,  enacted  in  reality  for  the 
protection  of  Israelites  in  their  home  worship  and  the  religious  free- 
dom of  their  families,  forbade  every  Jewish  family  from  having 
Christian  servants.  The  reason  was  this.  Christian  servants,  be- 
side the  danger  to  their  own  faith  from  the  influence  exercised  by 
wealthy  masters,  were  continually  tempted  to  bestow  baptism  on 
the  children  of  the  latter  when  in  imminent  danger  of  death.  The 
penalty  was,  when  such  baptism  had  been  administered  by  a Chris- 
tian servant,  that  the  child  thus  baptized  should,  in  case  of  re- 
covery, be  taken  away  from  the  parents  and  reared  in  the  Christian 
faith. 

This  was  the  penalty,  well  known  to  the  Jews,  and  imposed  for  the 
infraction  of  a law  intended  to  protect  themselves  from  intrusion 
into  their  own  family  circle.  Edgar  Mojtara,  living  with  his  Jewish 
parents  in  Bologna,  had,  several  years  before,  been  baptized,  while 
at  the  point  of  death,  by  a Christian  servant-girl  named  Anna 
Morisi,  kept  by  his  parents  in  open  violation  of  the  law.  The 
boy  had  recovered,  and  in  November,  1857,  was  in  his  seventh  year. 
Another  child  of  the  Mortaras  about  this  time  was  also  at  death’s 
door,  and  Anna  Morisi  was  urged  by  a female  friend  to  baptize  it, 
but  she  refused,  giving  as  a reason  that  she  had  baptized  the  boy 
Edgar  under  like  circumstances,  and  that  he  was  now  brought  up  a 
Jew. 

The  fact  having  been  reported  to  the  magistrates,  the  boy  was 
taken  away  from  his  father’s  house  and  placed  in  the  House  of  Cat- 
echumens in  Rome,  where  he  was  to  be  educated  as  a Christian. 
This  act,  performed  in  fulfillment  of  what  the  pontifical  authorities 


348 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


deemed  a just  law,  set  the  whole  religious  world  ablaze.  The  parents 
meanwhile  were  allowed  every  access  to  the  boy ; he  was  educated 
thoroughly  in  accordance  with  his  station  and  prospects  : manifested 
as  he  grew  up  no  disposition  to  return  to  the  Jewish  faith,  but 
would  be  free  to  do  so  at  his  majority. 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  Mazzini,  or  Napoledn  III.,  or  Cavour, 
had  forgotten  to  conspire  while  Pius  IX.  was  visiting  his  States  and 
planning  new  schemes  for  their  happiness. 

In  1857  the  Piedmontese  ambassador  in  Paris,  De  Villamarina, 
wrote  to  Count  Cavour  : Napoleon  needs  time  to  bring  to  a favor- 
able issue  his  projects  in  favor  of  Italy.  Allow  me,  therefore,  to 
express  my  most  earnest  hope  that  Italians  will  not  compromise  by 
untimely  movements  the  future  which  Sardinia  has  been  able  to 
prepare  for  them  on  the  battle-field  as  well  as  by  her  success  in  the 
Congress  of  Paris.  At  the  present  moment  we  must  be  prudent, 
patient,  and  wait  for  events.  We  must  show  the  emperor  that  we 
have  much  confidence  in  his  personal  policy,  and  that  we  will  not 
create  any  embarrassment  for  him.  . , . Napoleon  and  time  are 

for  us  and  for  Italy.”  * 

The  attempt  on  the  life  of  the  emperor  by  Felice  Orsini,  on  Jan- 
uary the  14th,  1858,  was  only  part  of  a vast  plan  of  assassination  in 
which  Victor  Emmanuel  was  also  to  be  cut  off.  Count  Walewski, 
the  French  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  who,  as  well  as  his  associates, 
was  entirely  ignorant  of  the  emperor’s  designs,  wrote  to  the  Euro- 
pean courts  to  demand  the  inauguration  of  a system  of  repression. 
But  French  courtiers,  who  shared  the  emperor’s  secret  sympathies, 
were  heard  to  say,  So  long  as  there  are  Austrians  in  Italy,  there  will 
be  assassination  plots  in  Paris.  We  must  help  Cavour.”  Then  was 
published — with  a manifest  intention  of  preparing  the  public  mind 
— the  letter  addressed  to  the  emperor  by  Felice  Orsini,  just  before 
his  execution,  and  in  which  Napoleon  was  urged  to  deliver  Italy. 
This  letter,  with  a sort  of  political  testament  of  the  WTetched  cul- 
prit, was  sent  by  the  emperor  to  the  court  of  Turin,  and  published 
ofldcially  there  on  April  the  1st.  In  May  Napoleon  proposed  a plan 
of  alliance  with  Piedmont,  together  with  a project  of  marriage  be- 
tween Prince  Napoleon  Jerome  Bonaparte,  and  a daughter  of  Victor 
Emmanuel.  In  June  Dr.  Conneau,  the  emperor’s  confidant,  went 
to  Turin  and  agreed  with  Cavour  that  he  should  secretly  meet 


Mevue  des  Deux  Mondes,  June  1,  1876,  p.  649. 


Napoleon  III  Conspires  with  Cavour.  349 

Napoleon  III.  at  Plombieres  during  tbe  bathing  season.  On  July 
the  20th  an  officer  of  the  imperial  household  received  at  the  Plom- 
bieres station  the  mysterious  traveler,  whose  identity  no  one  guessed 
at  first.  The  visit  was  a brief  one  ; but  the  conditions  of  an  alliance 
were  at  once  settled  : War  with  Austria,  the  establishment  of  a king- 
dom of  Italy,  and  the  cession  to  France  of  Nice  and  Savoy. 

At  the  same  time  the  March ese  Pepoli  was  sent  to  Berlin  to  flatter 
the  Crown  Prince  (the  present  Emperor  of  Germany),  to  rekindle 
the  ambition  of  Prussia  to  overshadow  Austria,  to  separate  her  from 
that  power,  and  to  draw  her  into  a close  alliance  with  France  and 
Piedmont.  The  Prussian  prime  minister  at  that  time  was  the 
Prince  of  Hohenzollern,  a blood  relation  of  Pepoli  as  well  as  of 
Napoleon  III.  To  the  overtures  made  to  him  by  the  French  and 
Piedmontese  ambassadors  he  replied  cautiously,  giving  them  no 
positive  assurance  of  good-will  in  their  schemes. 

But  with  the  beginning  of  1859  came  a startling  series  of  occur- 
rences which  filled  all  Europe  with  alarm.  On  New-Year’s  Day 
Napoleon  III.,  on  receiving  the  diplomatic  body,  expressed  to  the 
Austrian  ambassador  '‘his  regret  that  his  relations  with  the  Aus- 
trian government  were  not  so  friendly  as  in  the  past.”  And  on  the 
very  same  day,  and  almost  at  the  same  hour,  Pius  IX.,  perfectly  aware 
of  the  double  game  played  at  Paris  and  Turin,  replied  to  the  felici- 
tations of  General  De  Goyon,  then  in  command  of  the  French  troops, 
that  he  "was  praying  for  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  beseeching 
the  almighty  disposer  of  events  to  establish  here  below  one  universal 
empire,  that  of  justice  and  truth.” 

Napoleon  III.  had,  however,  the  tact  of  making  his  allies  say  what 
he  could  not  or  would  not  himself ; and  on  January  the  10th,  Vic- 
tor Emmanuel,  in  opening  the  Piedmontese  chambers,  startled  his 
audienee  by  these  words,  put  in  his  mouth  by  Cavour  : " The  hori- 
zon amid  which  this  new  year  is  dawning  is  not  perfectly  cloudless. 

. . . Fortified  by  our  experience  of  the  past,  let  us  meet  boldly 

the  eventualities  of  the  future.  That  future  shall  be  prosperous, 
because  our  policy  reposes  on  justice  and  on  our  love  for  liberty  and 
country.  That  country,  though  circumscribed  by  narrow  limits, 
has  increased  in  worth  in  the  councils  of  Europe,  because  it  is  great 
by  the  ideas  it  represents  and  the  sympathies  which  it  inspires.  Our 
situation  has  indeed  its  own  dangers  ; for,  while  we  may  respect  ex- 
isting treaties,  we  cannot  be  insensible  to  the  cry  of  agony  which  is 
Bent  up  to  us  from  every  part  of  Italy.” 


35o 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


On  the  3d  of  February  Lord  Derby,  then  prime  minister,  gave,  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  the  true  interpretation  of  this  speech  and  a key 
to  the  whole  situation.  Is^orthern  Italy  is  a volcano  that  slum- 
bers, . . . The  words  pronounced  by  the  king  of  Sardinia, 

have,  naturally,  a great  significance.  I still  hope  that  Sardinia  will 
listen  to  wiser  counsels.  . . . It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that 

Sardinia,  comparatively  feeble  in  presence  of  Austria,  should  be  dis- 
posed to  begin  a struggle  with  any  prospect  of  success,  or  for  any 
cause  whatever,  were  it  not  that  she  relied  on  foreign  assistance,  and 
the  only  country  from  which  that  can  come,  is  France.” 

Hapoleon  III.  opened  the  French  chambers  four  days  afterward 
(February  7),  and  by  specious  circumlocutions  seemed  to  deny  all  dan- 
ger of  hostilities.  But  on  February  the  4th  a semi-official  pamphlet, 
entitled  Napoleon  III.  et  Vltalie,  had  thrown  public  opinion  in 
France  and  throughout  the  civilized  world  into  great  perturbation. 
This  pamphlet  reiterated  the  position  taken  by  the  writer  of  the 
famous  letter  to  Colonel  Hey.  It  was  an  act  of  accusation  drawn  up 
against  the  government  of  the  Popes  with  such  skill,  that  every  intel- 
ligent person  who  read  it  could  only  see  in  it,  under  the  fair  ideal  of 
a confederated  Italy  with  the  national  capital  at  Eome,  the  kingdom 
of  Italy  which  has  since  become  a reality. 

While  receiving  this  accession  of  moral  influence,”  the  imperial 
pamphleteer  affirmed,  “while  finding  himself  invested  with  a kind  of 
moral  protectorship  over  all  Italy,  bestowed  on  him  by  the  reverence 
of  all  its  people,  the  Pope  can,  without  abasement,  lessen  his  tempo- 
ral power  and  lighten  his  political  responsibility.  He  can,  without 
risk  to  himself,  organize  under  himself  a serious  control,  a secular 
administration,  a civil  legislation,  a regular  and  independent  magis- 
tracy. All  that  he  loses  in  prerogatives  he  gains  in  importance.  ” 

The  Pope,  with  whom,  as  we  have  seen,  originated  the  true  idea 
of  a national  Italian  league,  was  not  even  consulted  about  this  new 
dignity  and  accession  of  importance  to  be  conferred  upon  him  “ by 
the  reverence  of  all  the  peoples  of  Italy.”  But  Providence  permitted 
that  the  men  who  were  to  be  the  not  very  reverential  agents  of  this 
political  and  moral  renovation  of  the  papacy,  should  speak  out  in 
spite  of  Hapoleon,  or  Victor  Emmanuel,  or  of  Victor  EmmanuePs 
master,  Cavour. 

On  March  the  7th  Garibaldi  addressed  to  all  the  provinces  of 
Italy  the  following  secret  instructions,  intended,  of  course,  for  the 
local  circles  and  clubs  : 


Garibaldi  s Programme, 


35i 


Tfie  Presidency  deems  it  its  duty,  under  the  present  aspect  ol 
ailiiirs  in  Italy,  to  communicate  the  following  secret  instructions  : 

As  soon  as  hostilities  have  begun  between  Piedmont  and  Aus- 
tria, you  shall  rise  in  insurrection  at  the  cry  of  Long  live  Italy  and 
Victor  Emmanuel ! Out  with  the  Austrians  I 

“ 2.  If,  in  your  city,  an  insurrection  he  impossible,  then  all  young 
men  able  to  bear  arms  shall  leave  the  city,  and  shall  go  to  the 
nearest  city  in  which  the  insurrection  has  been  successful.  . . . 

Among  these  neighboring  cities  you  shall  choose  the  nearest  to  Pied- 
mont, at  which  all  the  Italian  forces  are  to  concentrate. 

6.  Wherever  the  insurrection  is  successful,  the  man  who  is  highest 
in  public  confidence  shall  assume  the  supreme  civil  and  military 
authority  in  the  name  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  with  the  title  of  provi- 
sional commissary. 

‘‘9.  He  shall  appoint  a council  of  war,  to  judge  and  punish  within 
the  twenty-four  hours  all  attempts  against  the  national  cause,  or 
against  the  life  and  property  of  peaceful  citizens.  He  shall  have  no 
regard  to  class  or  rank. 

12.  He  shall  maintain  the  severest  and  most  inexorable  discipline, 
applying  to  every  person,  no  matter  who  he  may  be,  the  di  spositions 
of  military  law  in  time  of  war. 

13.  He  shall  send  to  King  Victor  Emmanuel  a correct  statement 
of  the  arms,  ammunition,  and  moneys  found  in  each  province,  and 
shall  await  the  king’s  orders  thereon. 

‘‘Tunrx,  March  the  7th,  1859.” 

Assuredly  there  is  no  need  of  a prophetic  insight  into  men’s  secret 
souls  or  into  the  contingencies  of  the  future  depending  on  men’s  free 
agency,  to  foresee  and  predict  with  certainty,  what  must  be,  in  the 
near  future,  the  fate  of  the  Pope’s  temporal  sovereignty,  when  Erance 
and  Piedmont  join  hands  to  effect  Italian  unity,  and  employ  to 
aid  them  in  their  purpose  the  armies  of  ^^sectarians’’  organized  in 
every  Italian  territory,  garrisoning,  in  a manner,  for  Garibaldi,  every 
Italian  city. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


The  War  Begun — Solidarity  between  Garibaldi  and  Victor 
Emmanuel — Lord  Derby  as  a Peacemaker  laughed  at  by 
Cavour — Prince  Napoleon  in  Tuscany  and  the  Romagna 
— Piedmontism  Triumphant  in  the  Papal  Territory — 
The  Church  Despoiled  first,  and  Degraded  afterward 
— The  Bishops  of  the  Marches  Protest — The  Jesuits 
Stripped  and  Outraged  in  the  Name  of  Piedmont — Fa- 
ther Beckx  Protests — The  Pope  hemmed  in  by  the  Rev- 
olutionary Forces — He  Excommunicates  the  Invaders — 
Denunciation  by  French  Publicists  and  Bishops — Bishop 
Dupanloup’s  scathing  Rebuke  of  Napoleon — Louis  Veuil- 

LOT  PRE-EMINENT  IN  THE  DEFENSE  OF  THE  HOLY  SeE — HlS 

Journal  Suppressed — The  Spirit  of  th;e  old  Crusaders 

ABROAD. 


1859-1860. 


N the  27th  of  April  the  Austrian  general,  yielding  unwisely  to 


V,/  a series  of  well-calculated  provocations,  invaded  the  Piedmon- 
tese territory.  This  act  was  far  worse  for  Austria  than  a crushing 
defeat  on  the  battle-field.  On  May  the  3d  Napoleon  declared  war 
against  Austria  ; on  the  12th  he  arrived  at  Genoa,  commanded  at  the 
battle  of  Magenta  on  June  the  4th,  and  at  that  of  Solferino  on  the 
24th  of  the  same  month. 

Perhaps  the  reader,  before  following  further  the  course  of  events, 
would  like  to  feel  an  absolute  certainty  concerning  the  bond  uniting 
Cavour  and  his  king  with  Garibaldi,  and  the  agencies  controlled  by 
the  latter.  Let  us  dispose  at  once  of  every  doubt  on  this  head.  The 
memoirs  of  Cavour  have  now  been  published,  as  well  as  a life  written 
by  an  intimate  friend  and  relative  of  the  statesman.  One  who  re- 
sumes all  the  information  contained  in  these  and  in  other  sources 
on  the  causes  which  led  to  the  Italian  war  of  1859  thus  writes  : 

‘^If  the  skillful  and  provident  patriot  had  succeeded  in  effecting  a 
great  alliance  without  which  nothing  was  possible,  he  was  also  un- 


352 


Solidarity  between  Garibaldi  and  Cavour,  353 

willing  to  be  indebted  to  his  allies  for  everything.  ^ Woe  to  ns/  he 
wrote  to  La  Marmora,  ‘ if  our  triumph  should  be  won  by  the  Lrench 
alone  ! ’ . . . By  the  side  of  the  Piedmontese  army,  in  spite 

of  the  anger  of  diplomats,  he  busied  himself  in  creating,  under  the 
name  of  ^ Hunters  of  the  Alps,’  several  battalions  to  serve  as  a nucleus 
for  all  the  Lombard  and  Tuscan  youths  who  were  pouring  into 
Turin,  and,  being  a bold  man,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  the  com- 
mand of  these  battalions  to  Garibaldi.  One  morning  during  that 
winter  of  1858-59,  and  before  dawn,  a strange  visitor  asked  for  ad- 
mission at  the  door  of  the  prime  minister.  The  servant,  a little 
frightened,  brought  in  the  message  to  his  master.  ^Who  is  this 
stranger  ? ’ asked  Cavour.  ‘ It  is  a man  with  a broad-brimmed  hat, 
with  a stout  stick  in  his  hand,  and  refuses  to  give  his  name  ; he  pre- 
tends that  you  are  expecting  him.’  It  was  Garibaldi,  who  had  come 
to  have  an  understanding  with  Cavour,  by  putting  himself  under 
the  command  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  . . . Evidently  Cavour  alone 
could  make  use  of  all  these  elements  and  risk  the  result ; he  saw  in 
this  plan  a way  to  bind  together  all  the  national  forces,  to  rally  to 
himself  or  to  neutralize  the  republicans,  by  only  casting  aside  the 
un tractable  partisans  of  Mazzini.  . . . He  was  thus  disposing 

of  Piedmont  and  Italy.”  * 

The  Conservative  English  ministry,  over  which  presided  Lords 
Derby  and  Malmesbury,  was  sincere  in  its  efforts  at  conciliating 
Austria  and  Piedmont  before  the  war  had  as  yet  broken  out,  and 
even  before  Napoleon  III.  had  openly  shown  his  hand.  The 
English  cabinet  saw  in  him,  what  he  really  was,  the  great  agitator, 
the  unceasing  provoker  of  Austria,  the  most  dangerous  enemy  of 
peace.  Cavour,  on  his  side,  would  listen  patiently,  sometimes  un- 
easily, but  with  his  mind  made  up  neither  to  yield  to  England  nor 
to  estrange  her.  When  he  deemed  it  needful,  and  if  pressed  too 
hard,  he  rebelled  against  this  schooling.  To  an  English  diplomat, 
who  told  him  that  public  opinion  in  London  accused  him  of  dis- 
turbing the  peace  of  Europe,  he  replied  with  spirit:  ^Very  well! 
But  I think  that  England  is  above  all  others  responsible  for  the 
troubled  condition  of  Italy.  It  is  English  statesmen,  English  par- 
liamentary orators,  English  diplomats  and  writers  who  have  been 
at  work  for  years  stirring  up  the  political  passions  in  our  Peninsula. 


* Charles  do  Mazade  in  La  Reme  des  Deux  Mondes,  July  15th,  1376,  pp.  368, 
869. 


23 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


354 

Is  it  not  England  that  encouraged  Sardinia  to  oppose  to  the  unlawful 
preponderance  of  Austria  the  propagandism  of  moral  influences  ? ’ ” * 

We  have  been  anxious  to  give  a key  to  the  complication  of  events 
filling  the  last  twenty  years  of  Italian  history,  rather  than  to  detail 
occurrences  themselves.  The  command  of  the  troops  destined  to 
attack  the  Austrian  army  by  a flank  movement  from  the  south-east, 
was  intrusted  to  Prince  Napoleon  Jerome,  now  married  to  the  Prin- 
cess Clotilde  of  Savoy.  No  permission  was  asked  by  this  man — who, 
to  vices  from  wEich  Garibaldi  was  free,  united  all  Garibaldi’s  jacobin- 
ism, without  a particle  of  his  bravery  or  his  military  talent — of  the 
sovereigns  of  the  neutral  territories  to  march  his  army  through  them. 

With  such  a man  to  give  Garibaldi’s  subordinates  countenance 
and  aid,  the  programme  prepared  at  Turin  in  February,  and  com- 
municated to  the  clubs  of  conspirators  from  one  end  of  Italy  to  the 
other,  was,  of  course,  carried  out  to  the  letter.  On  the  very  day 
that  Marshal  Kadetzky  crossed  the  Mincio,  April  the  27th,  Tuscany 
‘‘arose,”  and  a provisional  government  was  established  in  the  name 
of  Victor  Emmanuel.  On  May  the  1st  Parma  followed  the  example, 
Bologna  and  Ferrara  had  to  wait  till  the  Austrian  garrisons  had 
retired,  when  they  too  arose  against  the  pontifical  government, 
Bologna  on  June  the  12th,  and  Ferrara  two  days  later.  The  whole 
of  the  Eomagna  thus  fell  into  the  hands  of  Piedmont,  and  from  that 
moment  became  in  reality  an  integral  part  of  it. 

The  terrible  impression  made  on  the  unwarlike  Napoleon  III.  by 
the  great  battle  of  Solferino,  and  the  fear,  real  or  pretended,  of  an 
invasion  of  the  Rhenish  provinces  by  Prussia,  brought  the  war  to  a 
sudden  close,  and  saved  for  the  moment  the  other  pontifical  provinces 
from  the  horrors  of  insurrection,  and  the  sacrileges  which  followed 
close  in  the  train  of  Garibaldi  or  of  Piedmontese  occupation. 

In  Lombardy,  Tuscany,  Parma,  Modena,  and  the  Romagna,  now 
become  the  possession  of  Victor  Emmanuel,  or  rather  of  the  “sects” 
which  governed  them  for  him,  the  usurpers  made  haste  to  abolish 
every  law  and  institution  considered  till  then  exclusively  Catholic, 
and  held  sacred  by  the  reverence  of  so  many  ages. 

It  cannot  be  disguised — much  as  the  avowal  must  pain  every 
Catholic  heart  that  loves  not  only  the  honor  of  the  Church,  but  the 
good  name  of  all  who  have  ever  received  her  baptism,  and  sat  at  her 
table  and  partaken  of  her  bread — the  sole  purpose  of  the  men  who 


* Ibidem,  p.  369. 


Liberalizing  Processes  used  by  Piedmont,  355 


everj'wliere  accepted  or  sought  the  goyemment  of  the  annexed  pro- 
vinces seemed  to  he  to  dishonor  and  yilify  that  Church  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  Italian  people.  We  have  sometimes  heard  of  the 
perversity  of  sons,  who,  coveting  a widowed  mother’s  property,  and 
impatient  of  her  longevity  still  more  than  of  her  rule,  misrepresented 
and  calumniated  her,  denounced  her  to  the  tribunals  as  insane,  or 
criminal,  or  incapable  of  managing  her  own  estate.  This  is  a mon- 
strosity in  the  moral  world;  but  it  will  go  further.  It  is  when 
an  iniquitous  sentence  has  deprived  that  mother  of  her  most  sacred 
rights,  of  her  possessions  and  her  liberty,  that  her  unnatural  chil- 
dren will  employ  all  their  industry  to  blacken  and  defame  the  parent 
whom  they  have  sacrificed  to  their  unholy  passions. 

In  Piedmont,  during  the  ten  years  elapsed  between  1849  and  1859, 
the  Church  had  been  gradually  stripped  of  every  vestige  of  inde- 
pendence and  legitimate  authority.  The  legislation  inaugurated  by 
Cavour,  and  often  carried  by  his  associate  ministers  to  a pitch  of 
tyranny  highly  censured  by  their  more  politic  and  far-seeing  chief, 
aimed  at  binding  the  Church  hand  and  foot,  and  leaving  her  in  the 
education  of  her  priesthood,  her  function  of  teaching,  and  the  very 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  the  powerless  slave  of  the  civil 
magistrate.  Bismark,  in  Germany,  had  not  even  the  merit  of 
originality  in  the  Falk  laws  or  in  the  persecuting  measures  enforced 
against  bishops  and  priests  who  dared  to  have  a conscience  of  their 
own.  The  code  of  liberal  Piedmont,  the  code  actually  in  force  in 
the  ^'kingdom  of  Italy,”  served  as  a tempting  model  to  “the  man 
of  blood  and  iron.” 

Church  property  became  the  property  of  the  State ; the  bishop 
and  the  priest  were  declared  to  be,  in  effect.  State  officials,  and,  as 
such,  were  to  be  trained  as  the  State  directed,  in  such  schools  and 
universities  as  the  State  approved,  under  such  professors  as  it  chose, 
learning  what*  these  were  instructed  to  teach,  neither  more  nor  less, 
and  bound  under  the  severest  penalties  to  fulfill  their  appointed 
duties  in  the  church  or  the  parish  designated  by  the  sole  authority 
of  the  State,  just  as  the  soldier  had  to  go  through  his  drill  and 
mount  guard,  or  incur  the  rigors  of  military  law  ! 

Every  privilege  and  immunity,  even  in  the  Papal  States,  attached 
from  the  origin  of  Christianity  to  the  priestly  character,  and  deemed 
by  Pagan  as  well  as  by  J ewish  legislation  due  to  the  sacredness  of 
the  priestly  office,  was  swept  away.  The  priest  could  be  taken  from 
the  altar  and  compelled  by  the  new  law  to  put  off  his  clerical  dress 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


356 

and  put  on  the  military  uniform,  and  march  in  the  rai^ks  to  slaugh- 
ter his  fellow-men,  or  shoot  down,  during  a riot,  the  members  of  his 
own  congregation. 

This  is  literally  true.  But  it  is  not  the  worst.  The  priest,  that  is 
the  Church,  w^as  forbidden  to  hold  property,  to  alienate  or  dispose 
of  such  as  it  possessed.  It  was  proposed  even  to  forbid  almsgiving, 
lest  the  poor  should  continue  to  love  and  to  bless  the  giver.  Nay, 
the  Church  had  bound  the  mass  of  the  people  to  herself  by  creating 
institutions  of  beneficence  and  charity,  as  well  as  schools  and  uni- 
versities. Just  as  all  superintendence  and  control  of  education  was 
taken  from  her  by  the  new  laws  introduced  into  the  Romagna  by  our 
old  acquaintance  Massimo  d’  Azeglio,  the  Piedmontese  Commissary 
Goneral,  even  so  the  control  and  superintendence  of  charities  or 
beneficent  establishments  of  all  kinds  was  forbidden  the  clergy. 

The  bishops  who  remonstrated  or  resisted  were  either  fined  or  im- 
prisoned, or  banished  the  country.  There  were  many  who  fared 
even  worse.  The  religious  orders,  the  communities  of  men  and 
women,  were,  it  may  be  anticipated,  suppressed,  and  their  members 
turned  adrift  into  a society  in  which  all  the  evil  passions  of  humanity 
seemed  to  be  holding  perpetual  carnival. 

Nor  was  this  the  worst  of  all.  In  the  magnificent  remonstrance 
sent  on  November  the  21st,  1860,  to  the  Piedmontese  governor  by  the 
archbishops  and  bishops  of  the  Marches,  there  are  details  which  his- 
tory must  record.  Our  souls,  cruelly  wounded  and  torn,  are  filled 
with  grief  and  desolation  by  the  thought  of  the  spiritual  ruin  which 
threatens  our  children,  our  fiocks,  purchased  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  without  spot.  Nevertheless,  after  all  the  contradictions,  the 
trials,  the  obstacles  we  have  had  to  encounter — not  one  spark  of 
charity,  of  zeal,  of  pastoral  and  fatherly  solicitude  has  been  quenched 
in  our  souls — we  solemnly  affirm  it,  with  our  anointed  hands  on  our 
hearts,  and,  with  the  help  of  God’s  grace,  these  sentiments  shall  never 
depart  from  us  through  fault  of  ours. 

We  scarcely  believe  our  own  eyes,  or  the  testimony  of  our  own 
ears,  when  we  see  and  hear  the  excesses,  the  abominations,  the  dis- 
orders, witnessed  in  the  chief  cities  of  our  respective  dioceses,  to  the 
sliame  and  horror  of  the  beholders,  to  the  great  detriment  of  religion, 
of  decency,  and  public  morality,  since  the  ordinances  against  which 
W'e  protest  deprive  us  of  all  power  to  protect  religion  and  morality, 
or  to  repress  the  prevailing  crimes  and  licentiousness. 

The  public  sale,  at  nominal  prices,  of  mutilated  translations  of 


The  Bishops  of  the  Romagna  tell  a Tale,  357 


the  Bible,  of  pamphlets  of  every  description  saturated  with  poisonous 
errors  or  infamous  obscenities,  is  permitted  in  the  cities  which  a few 
months  ago  had  never  heard  the  names  of  these  scandalous  produc- 
tions ; . . . the  impunity  with  which  the  most  horrible  blasphe- 
mies are  uttered  in  public,  and  the  worse  utterance  of  expressions  and 
sentiments  that  breathe  a hellish  wickedness ; the  exposition,  the 
public  sale,  and  the  diffusion  of  statuettes,  pictures,  and  engravings 
which  brutally  outrage  piety,  purity,  the  commonest  decency ; the 
representation  on  our  theaters,  of  pieces  and  scenes  in  which  are 
turned  into  ridicule  the  Church — Christ’s  immaculate  spouse — the 
vicar  of  Christ,  the  ministers  of  religion,  and  everything  held  dear 
to  piety  and  faith ; in  fine,  the  fearful  licentiousness  of  public  man- 
ners, the  odious  devices  resorted  to  for  perverting  the  innocent  and 
the  young,  the  evident  wish  and  aim  to  make  immorality,  obscenity, 
uncleanness  triumph  among  all  classes  ; such  are,  your  Excellency, 
the  rapid  and  faint  outlines  of  the  scandalous  state  of  things  created 
in  the  Marches  by  the  legislation  and  discipline  so  precipitately  in- 
troduced by  the  Piedmontese  government.  . . , We  appeal  to  your 
Excellency,  . . . could  we  remain  silent  and  indifferent  specta- 

tors of  this  immense  calamity  without  violating  our  most  sacred  duty  ? ’ 

It  is  deplorable  that  so  many  Protestants,  sincerely  devoted  to  what 
they  believe  to  be  the  best  interests  of  revealed  religion,  and  so 
careful  in  their  homes  and  their  lives  of  true  purity  and  modesty, 
should  encourage  and  pay  out  of  their  pockets  these  unscrupulous- 
agents  of  the  Bible  Societies,  who  care  not  by  what  unholy  means  or 
in  what  foul  company  they  get  themselves  and  their  books  into 
Catholic  lands.  Your  Garibaldis  and  Gavazzis  and  Achillis  are  but 
sorry  patrons  and  auxiliaries  for  the  spread  of  what  you  think  true 
religion ! 

We  can  anticipate  by  a few  months,  and  quote,  along  with'  the 
noble  words  of  these  bishops,  another  document  from  a man  noiless 
eminent  or  venerable,  though  not  enjoying  the  episcopal  dignity. 
Cavour  had  been  sorely  disappointed  by  the  sudden  termination  of 
tlie  war,  and  Garibaldi  had  been  taken  away  from  the  newly  ob- 
tained territories,  where  he  literary  rioted  in  sacrilege  and  profana- 
tion of  all  that  was  most  holy.  But  he  was  encouraged  by  Cavour 
to  embark  (May  the  6th)  on  his  expedition  to  Sicily.  We  know  how, 
protected  by  the  flags  of  Sardinia,  France,  and  England,  he  ran  his- 
race  of  easy  victory,  aided  by  the  admirably  organized  treason  of  the 
clubs  and  sects. 


358 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


One  of  liis  first  acts,  on  taking  possession  of  Palermo,  and  assum- 
ing the  title  and  powers  of  Dictator,  was  to  suppress  the  Jesuits  and 
Redemptorists,  to  confiscate  their  property  and  proscribe  their  per- 
sons. What  was  done  in  Sicily  was  also  done  at  Naples,  when  it  fell 
into  the  power  of  the  Garihaldians,  and  became  the  rule  wherever 
the  revolution  prevailed.  But  let  the  venerable  Father  Beckx,  the 
general  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  tell  the  story  of  his  wrongs  in  his 
solemn  protestation  of  October  the  24th,  1860. 

The  society,’’  says  the  general  to  the  King  of  Sardinia,  ‘'has  lost 
in  Lombardy  three  residences  and  colleges  ; in  the  duchy  of  Modena, 
six  ; in  the  Pontifical  States,  eleven  ; in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  nine- 
teen ; and  in  Sicily,  fifteen.  Everywhere  the  society  has  been  liter- 
ally stripped  of  all  its  property,  movable  and  immovable.  Its  mem- 
bers, to  the  number  of  1,500,  were  driven  forth  from  their  houses 
and  from  the  cities  ; they  were  led  by  an  armed  force,  like  so  many 
malefactors,  from  province  to  province,  cast  into  the  public  prisons, 
ill-treated  and  outraged  in  the  most  horrible  manner ; they  were  even 
prevented  from  finding  a refuge  in  pious  families,  while  in  several 
places  no  consideration  was  had  to  the  extreme  old  age  of  many 
among  them,  nor  to  the  infirmity  and  weakness  of  others. 

“All  these  acts  were  perpetrated  against  men  who  were  accused  of 
not  one  illegal  or  criminal  act,  without  any  judicial  process,  without 
allowing  any  justification  to  be  recorded ; in  one  word,  all  this  was 
consummated  in  the  most  despotic  and  savage  manner. 

“If  such  acts  had  been  accomplished  in  a popular  riot,  by  men 
blinded  by  passion,  we  might  perhaps  bear  them  in  silence  ; but  as 
all  such  acts  have  been  done  in, the  name  of  the  Sardinian  laws; 
as  the  provisional  governments  established  in  Modena  and  in  the 
Pontifical  States,  as  well  as  the  Dictator  of  Sicily  himself,  have 
claimed  to  be  supported  by  the  Sardinian  government ; and  as  your 
majesty’s  name  is  still  invoked  to  sanction  these  iniquitous  measures, 

. « . I can  no  longer  remain  a silent  spectator  of  such  enormous 

injustice,  but,  in  my  quality  of  supreme  head  of  the  Order,  I feel 
myself  strictly  bound  to  ask  for  justice  and  satisfaction,  and  to  pro- 
test before  God  and  man,  lest  the  resignation  inspired  by  religious 
meekness  and  forbearance  should  appear  to  be  a weakness  which 
might  be  construed  either  into  an  acknowledgment  of  guilt  or  a re- 
linquishment of  our  rights. 

“ I protest  solemnly,  and  in  the  best  form  I can  think  of,  against  the 
suppression  of  our  houses  and  colleges,  against  these  proscriptions, 


Courageous  Protest  of  Father  Beckx. 


359 


banisliments,  and  imprisonments,  against  the  acts  of  violence  and 
outrage  committed  against  the  brethren  bound  to  me  by  religious 
ties. 

‘‘I  protest  before  all  Catholics,  in  the  name  of  the  rights  of  the 
Church  sacrilegiously  violated. 

protest  in  the  name  of  the  benefactors  and  founders  of  our 
houses  and  colleges,  whose  will  and  expressed  intentions  in  founding 
these  good  works  for  the  interest  alike  of  the  living  and  the  dead, 
are  thus  nullified. 

protest  in  the  name  of  the  sacred  rights  of  property,  contemned 
and  trampled  under  foot  by  brutal  force. 

protest  in  the  name  of  citizenship  and  inviolability  of  indi- 
vidual persojgs,  of  whose  rights  no  one  may  he  deprived  without 
being  accused  in  form,  and  arraigned  and  judged. 

protest  in  the  name  of  humanity,  whose  rights  have  been  so 
shamefully  outraged  in  the  persons  of  so  many  aged  men,  sick,  infirm, 
and  helpless,  driven  from  their  peaceful  seclusion,  left  without  any 
assistance,  cast  on  the  highways  without  any  means  of  subsistence.” 

This  noble  and  indignant  protest  is  inserted  here  because  the 
monstrous  iniquity  which  it  denounces  is  to  be  presently  consum- 
mated in  Rome  itself  by  the  Italian  Parliament,  and  will  be  but  too 
faithfully  imitated  in  other  lands  ; and  because  the  rights  to  which 
it  appeals  are  the  sacred  and  immovable  basis  of  every  Christian, 
every  well-ordered  society. 

"What  was  the  attitude  of  the  sovereign  pontiff  while  the  social 
order,  confirmed  and  consecrated  by  so  many  centuries  of  Christian 
civilization,  was  thus  swept  away  before  his  eyes,  the  circle  of  de- 
struction narrowing  continually  around  Rome  and  its  immediate  ter- 
ritory ? He  and  his  counselors  and  immediate  subjects  could  not 
but  feel  like  emigrants  encamped  for  a night  on  our  vast  western 
prairies,  when  a July  sun  has  parched  every  living  thing  and  shriv- 
eled up  the  earth  itself.  The  wild  western  Indian  had  attacked  them 
in  vain  during  the  day,  and  has  now  in  the  darkness  fired  the  prairie, 
with  the  hope  of  making  them  fiee,  half-armed  and  divided,  to  the 
nearest  hills,  where  he  is  lying  in  ambush  for  them. 

They  have  but  one  resource  ; they  have  mowed  down  the  long 
grass  on  every  side,  to  leave  the  approaching  flames  no  food  around 
their  camp,  and  patient,  brave-hearted,  trustful  in  God,  they  lie 
down  behind  their  circle  of  wagons,  to  watch  the  waves  of  fire  as 
they  come  roaring  toward  them  from  the  four  wmds  of  heaven. 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


360 

Shall  yonder  narrow  circle  of  bare  ground  stop  the  advance  of  that 
fearful  tempest  of  flame  ? Or  is  it  to  give  the  weary  watchers  only 
the  respite  of  a moment  from  inevitable  fate  ? 

Pius  IX.  knew  that  he  alone  who  created  these  tenible  elementary 
forces,  could  arrest  the  fell  progress  of  revolution.  The  men  in 
whom  he  trusted,  under  God,  were  either  helpless  themselves,  or 
already  enveloped  in  the  wide  destruction,  or  in  league  with  the  evil 
he  fain  would  conjure.  The  French  flag  remained  still  in  Lombardy, 
to  prevent  Austria  from  interfering,  and  to  allow  Piedmont  to  secure 
her  possession  of  the  usurped  provinces.  The  French  fleet  was  in 
the  Neapolitan  waters  only  to  encourage  Garibaldi,  and  the  tramp  of 
the  French  soldier  was  still  heard  on  the  walls  of  Eome,  to  tell  the 
revolution  that  it  must  not  be  too  rapid  in  its  work.  The  French 
army  in  Rome  was  but  a Piedmontese  garrison  in  disguise. 

In  June  and  September,  1859,  the  voice  of  the  supreme  pastor  was 
heard  denouncing  the  usurpers,  and  proclaiming  them  and  their 
abettors  excommunicated.  And  from  France,  whose  soldiers  were 
compelled  to  sustain  the  evil  cause  in  Italy,  came  noble  words  of  de- 
nunciation re-echoing  the  Holy  Father’s  protest ; Montalembert  and 
Veuillot  branding  with  the  stigma  of  indelible  infamy  the  hypocrisy 
of  Napoleon  III.,  and  drawing  on  themselves  the  wrath  of  his  gov- 
ernment ; and  French  bishops,  the  worthy  brethren  of  those  of  the 
Marches,  warning  the  Catholic  world  that,  in  the  violated  sovereignty 
and  threatened  independence  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  it  was  the  most 
sacred  liberties  of  Christendom  which  were  threatened,  the  dearest 
and  most  venerable  rights  on  earth  which  were  trampled  upon. 
From  every  part  of  Europe  and  America  the  episcopal  body  united 
in  this  solemn  protestation,  and  the  voice  of  the  pastors  was  but  that 
of  their  flocks. 

But,  be  it  said  to  his  deathless  honor,  in  that  magniflcent  concert 
of  episcopal  voices  no  one  equaled  in  eloquence  and  energy  that  of 
the  illustrious  Dupanloup,  bishop  of  Orleans.  On  the  30th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1859,  he  wrote : 

'^Peoifle  say  that  to  touch  the  sovereign  is  not  to  touch  the  pon- 
tiff. Certainly,  his  temporal  power  is  not  a divine  institution  ; who 
does  not  know  this  ? But  it  is  a providential  institution  ; and  who 
is  ignorant  of  the  fact  ? Doubtless  during  three  centuries  the 
Popes  only  possessed  independence  enough  to  die  martyrs  ; but  they 
assuredly  had  a right  to  another  sort  of  independence,  and  Provi- 
dence, which  does  not  always  use  miracles  for  its  purpose,  ended  by 


Diipanloicp  Rebukes  Napoleon.  361 

founding  on  the  most  lawful  sovereignty  in  Europe  the  freedom, 
the  independence  necessary  to  the  Church. 

‘^History  proves  it  beyond  the  possibility  of  denial ; all  eminent 
intellects  have  confessed  it,  all  true  statesmen  know  it.  . . . 

Yes ; that  the  Church  may  he  free,  that  we  may  he  free,  the  Pope 
must  be  free  and  independent. 

That  independence  must  be  sovereign. 

The  Pope  must  be  free,  and  he  must  le  evidently  so. 

The  Pope  must  he  free  in  his  own  interior  as  well  as  in  his 
exterior  government. 

This  must  be  so  for  the  sake  of  his  own  dignity  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church,  as  well  as  for  the  security  of  our  own  consciences. 

This  must  he  so  in  order  to  secure  the  common  parent  of  all 
the  faithful  that  neutrality  which  is  indispensable  to  him  amid  the 
frequent  wars  between  Christian  powers. 

The  Pope  must  not  only  he  free  in  his  own  conscience,  in  his 
own  interior,  hut  it  must  he  evident  to  all  that  he  is  so ; he  must 
show  himself  to  be  so,  in  order  that  all  may  know  and  believe  it, 
and  that  no  doubt  or  suspicion  be  possible  on  this  subject.  . . . 

‘^But,  say  the  Italian  revolutionists,  we  do  not  propose- to  do 
away  with  the  papal  sovereignty ; we  merely  wish  to  limit  and  re- 
strain it. 

And  why  so,  I ask  you,  in  my  turn,  if  thereby  you  also  dimin- 
ish and  debase  the  honor  of  the  Catholic  religion,  its  dignity  and 
independence  ? 

Why  do  so,  if  thereby  you  lower  and  degrade  the  most  Italian 
sovereignty  of  the  whole  Peninsula  ? 

'^Why,  more  especially,  do  so  now,  in  presence  of  all  these  un- 
chained evil  passions,  and  thereby  give  against  the  Holy  See  a 
sentence  of  incapacity,  and  thus,  in  the  eyes  of  Christendom,  insult 
that  unarmed  and  oppressed  majesty  ? 

‘^You  say,  he  will  only  lose  the  Eomagna  and  the  Legations. 
But  allow  me  to  ask  you  by  what  right  you  take  them  ? And 
why  not  take  all  the  rest,  if  you  please  ? Why  in  your  dreams  of 
Italian  unity,  should  other  Italian  cities  fare  otherwise  than  Bologna 
and  Ferrara  ? 

AVhy  have  you  not  made  up  your  minds  to  take  everything  out- 
side Rome  with  the  garden  of  the  Vatican  ? You  have  said  this, 
you  know. 

^‘But  why  leave  him  even  Rome?  . . . Why  should  not 


362  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

Diocletian  and  the  Catacombs  be  the  best  of  all  governments  for 
the  Church  ? 

‘‘Where  are  you  going  ? How  far  will  your  detestable  principles 
lead  you  ? At  least  tell  us  clearly.  . , . 

“Is  this  a clever  calculation  of  yours?  And,  not  daring  to  do 
more  at  present,  or  unable  to  do  more,  are  you  waiting  for  time  and 
the  violence  of  events  to  accomplish  the  rest  ? But  who,  think  you, 
is  to  he  deceived  by  you  ? 

“Must  we  say,  with  the  highest  organ  of  the  English  press,  that 
in  the  present  business  France  is  aggressive  and  insidious?  Ho  ! 
no  ! I do  not  admit  that  our  country  is  willing  to  play  the  part 
designed  for  her.  Such  calculations  are  not  suited  to  French  gen- 
erosity. For  my  part,  I protest  with  my  whole  soul  against  the 
perfidions  intentions  that  we  are  supposed  to  entertain. 

“But  in  concluding  I must  protest  still  more  solemnly.  As  a de- 
voted son  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  the  mother  and  teacher  of 
all  others,  I protest  against  the  revolutionary  impiety  which  ignores 
her  rights  and  would  fain  steal  her  patrimony. 

“I  protest  in  the  name  of  good  sense  and  honor,  indignant  at 
beholding  an  Italian  sovereign  power  become  the  accomplice  of  in- 
surrection and  revolt,  and  at  the  conjuration  of  all  these  blind  un- 
reasoning passions  against  the  principles  proclaimed  and  professed 
throughout  the  world  by  all  great  statesmen  and  politicians. 

“I  protest  in  the  name  of  common  decency  and  European  law 
against  this  profanation  of  all  that  is  most  august,  against  the  brutal 
passions  which  have  inspired  acts  of  inconceivable  cowardice. 

“And,  if  I must  speak  out,  I protest  in  the  name  of  good  faith 
against  this  restless  and  ill-disguised  ambition,  these  evasive  answers, 
that  disloyal  policy,  of  which  we  have  the  saddening  spectacle  be- 
neath our  eyes.’’ 

Hapoleon  III.  had  a stormy  time  of  it,  and  must  have  felt  keenly 
the  lash  of  such  eloquence  as  Dupanloup’s  or  Montalembert’s.  He 
had  put  forward  the  idea  of  a European  Congress,  which  would  meet 
at  Paris  early  in  1860  to  settle  the  Italian,  or  rather,- the  Roman 
question.  On  the  22d  of  December  the  London  Times  began  to  pub- 
lish a pamphlet  entitled,  “The  Pope  and  the  Congress,”  evidently 
inspired  by  the  French  emperor,  if  not  written  by  him  (as  every- 
body believed).  It  sustained  a double  thesis : first,  that  the  Pope 
must  be  independent,  and  to  be  so,  he  must  be  an  independent  sov- 
ereign ; in  this  the  author  might  seem  to  sustain  or  favor  Catholic 


Encyclical  on  Napoleons  Policy,  363 

principles ; but,  secondly,  be  maintained  that  this  question  of  sov- 
ereignty could  only  be  decided  in  the  coming  congress,  and  that  the 
congress  could  not  possibly  do  otherwise  than  sanction  the  facts  ac- 
complished in  Italy.  The  only  sovereignty  which  can  be  guaranteed 
to  the  Pope  is  one  which  must  be  as  limited  as  possible  both  in  ter- 
ritory and  in  the  administration  of  its  ci^il  functions.  This  simply 
meant  that  the  congress  should  guarantee  the  Pope  the  possession  of 
the  Vatican  and  the  freedom  of  its  garden. 

On  January  the  1st,  Pius  IX.,  who  knew  perfectly  who  had  written 
the  pamphlet  and  who  had  inspired  the  writer,  said  to  the  French 
commander  in  Eome,  General  de  Goyon  : AVe  pray  God  to  enlight- 
en the  chief  of  your  army  and  your  nation,  that  he  may  walk  safely 
in  the  slippery  path,  and  acknowledge  also  the  falsity  of  certain 
principles  expressed  in  a lately  published  pamphlet,  which  may  be 
qualified  as  a remarhalle  monument  of  hypocrisy,  and  a vile  tissue 
of  contradictions,^^ 

The  blow  was  a hard  one.  But,  on  the  very  day  before,  the  man 
for  whom  it  was  intended,  and  who  felt  it,  justified  the  pontiff’s  se- 
vere judgment  by  writing  him  a letter,  which  affirmed  every  one 
of  the  odious  conclusions  of  the  hypocritical  pamphlet,  urging  the 
Holy  Father  to  give  up  the  occupied  provinces,  as  it  seemed  certain 
the  congress  w^ould  not  or  could  not  restore  them.  The  letter,  how- 
ever, though  addressed  to  the  Pope,  was  published  in  the  official 
Moniteur,  and  drew  from  his  Holiness  the  encyclical  Nullis  certis 
verlis  of  January  the  19th. 

It  is  a comparatively  short  document,  intended  to  give  the  whole 
Catholic  world  an  account  of  the  Pope’s  personal  efforts  made  to 
urge  Xapoleon  III.  to  plead  in  the  coming  congress  the  cause  of  the 
Holy  See,  and  of  the  emperor’s  tergiversations.  The  Holy  Father, 
in  his  letter  to  the  emperor  of  December  the  2d,  1859,  recalled  the 
fact  that  the  Eoman  pontiffs  were  not  a dynasty,  who  received  their 
possessions  as  an  heir-loom,  and  could  feel  at  liberty  to  dispose  of 
them  or  abdicate  their  sovereign  right  over  them.  Each  Pope  re- 
ceives the  Pontifical  States,  the  patrimony  of  the  Church,  as  a sacred 
trust,  which  his  coronation  oath  binds  him  to  keep  and  to  transmit 
in  its  integrity.  Besides,  any  cession  of  territory  made  after  rebellion 
would  be  a stimulant  toward  insurrection  in  the  remaining  provinces. 
Then,  again,  any  cession  or  abdication  would  be  a betrayal  of  the 
rights  of  the  other  dispossessed  sovereigns  of  Italy ; it  would  be  a 
violation  of  principle.  He  had  also,  he  said,  reminded  his  majesty 


364 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


of  the  perfect  knowledge  which  he  (JTapoleon)  must  have  had  of 
the  men  wdio  organized  rebellion  in  Bologna,  Eavenna,  and  other 
cities,  and  of  the  source  from  which  they  drew  money  and  men  ; and 
of  the  small  minority  of  papal  subjects  who  were  in  favor  of  seces- 
sion. As  the  emperor  had  reminded  the  Pope  of  the  frequent  out- 
brealis  which  had  taken  place  in  the  pontifical  territories,  I recalled 
liis  attention  to  the  fact  that  to  give  up  my  sovereignty  for  that  rea- 
son, would  be  rather  yielding  to  an  argument  which  proved  too 
much,  because  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  and  elsewhere,  there  oecur 
insurrections,  and  no  one  dreams  of  finding  in  their  occurrence  a 
lawful  argument  against  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  powders.  I also 
reminded  him  that  he  had  addressed  to  me,  before  the  Italian  war, 
a letter  differing  very  materially  from  his  last,  and  whieh  gave  as 
mueh  eomfort  as  the  other  had  caused  pain.  . . . Finally,  in 

that  spirit  of  fatherly  charity  which  compels  me  to  wateh  over  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  all,  I bade  him  remember  that  w^e  must  all  be 
judged  one  day  at  the  same  tribunal,  and  that  eaeh  one  of  us  should 
strenuously  endeavor  to  deserve  merey  rather  than  justiee.’’ 

Meanwhile  Louis  Veuillot,  w^ho  daily  felt  more  and  more  that  a 
crisis  Tvas  fast  approaching  in  the  affairs  of  the  Holy  See,  resolved 
that  nothing  which  his  journal  and  powerful  pen  could  effect  toward 
warning  the  government  and  rousing  Catholic  public  opinion,  should 
be  omitted  by  his  associates  or  himself. 

About  New-Year’s  time,  as  an  answer  to  ^'The  Pope  and  the  Con- 
gress,” and  the  anti-Catholic  commentaries  of  the  entire  Voltairian 
and  imperialist  press,  Veuillot  drew  up  an  address  to  the  Holy  Fa- 
ther, which  he  invited  all  good  Catholics  to  sign.  This  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Univers. 

^^Most  Holy  Father,”  it  said,  though  entirely  convinced  that 
the  sentiment  and  genius  of  France  shall  triumph  over  the  spirit  of 
error  which  is  now  threatening  your  temporal  sovereignty,  we  wish 
nevertheless  to  comfort  your  heart  by  the  expression  of  our  devotion. 

All  that  is  said  against  your  rights  and  your  government  has  in 
nowise  shaken  either  our  respect  for  your  rights  or  our  confidence  in 
the  love  and  wisdom  which  guide  your  authority.  Your  rights  are 
not  deri^  cd  from  men,  you  have  not  acquired  them  by  violence  or  in- 
justice, you  do  not  maintain  them  through  motives  of  ambition,  you 
do  not  exercise  them  with  harshness.  You  are  of  all  earthly  sover- 
eigns the  most  lawful  and  the  most  meek.  Ingratitude  and  rebellion 
can  create  no  titles  for  dispossessing  you  and  hating  you. 


Veuillot's  Beautiful  Address, 


365 


What  your  people  lias  to  endure  cannot  be  traced  to  you  as  its 
author,  but  to  the  people  themselves  and  to  their  seducers,  to  these 
madmen  become  perverts,  to  these  rebels  become  traitors,  who  con- 
spire against  you  after  having  been  pardoned,  and  who  use  as  a 
weapon  against  you,  all  the  evil  done  by  themselves  after  you  had  re- 
paired it. 

As  to  us,  your  children  of  France,  we  believe  that  your  author- 
ity can  only  be  defined  by  yourself,  and  we  claim  for  you  all  the 
rights  which  you  claim  for  yourself.  We  believe  that  the  reforms  to 
be  made  can  only  be  good,  effective,  and  lawful,  in  so  far  as  they 
shall  have  been  made  freely  by  you.  Who,  after  all,  will  love  justice 
more  ardently  than  you,  will  respect  more  deeply  than  you  the  right 
of  all  peoples,  will  more  tenderly  cherish  the  poor  than  yourself,  and 
will  bear  more  constantly  in  mind  the  account  which  all  sovereigns 
shall  render  to  God  ? 

‘‘In  defending  the  cause  of  your  independence,  it  is  our  own  and 
that  of  the  entire  Christian  people  that  we  defend.  You  are  the 
light  and  the  bulwark  of  souls.  Your  independence  saves  human 
freedom.  If  the  Pope  were  no  longer  king,  the  cross  would  be  soon 
torn  from  every  kingly  crown,  and  nothing  would  be  left  to  save  the 
world  from  being  brought  back  again  to  the  worship  of  idols.  Hu- 
manity would  adore  idols  of  mud,  and  would  be  crushed  beneath 
idols  of  fiesh. 

“ 0 Father,  0 King,  0 spotless  and  immortal  Victim,  let  youi 
anguish-burdened  thought  rest  on  us  for  one  moment ! On  ouj 
knees,  full  of  faith — full  of  love — we  ask  you  to  bestow  the  blessing 
which  strengthens  men’s  souls.  Let  it  forever  remove  far  from  us 
the  incomparable  shame  of  betraying  you  ! ” 

This  noble  address,  coming  after  the  pastoral  letters  of  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops,  stirred  to  its  inmost  depths  the  Catholic  heart 
ol  France.  The  imperial  government  felt  instinctively  that  a moral 
force  was  gathering  strength  throughout  the  country  every  day, 
which  had  for  its  elements  not  the  violent  passions  of  the  skeptical 
middle  classes  of  the  nation,  but  the  deepest  and  holiest  convictions 
of  all  that  was  noblest  and  best  in  the  land. 

Veuillot  received  an  official  warning  from  the  minister  of  the  in- 
terior, Billault ; another  had  been  given  some  time  previously  ; a 
third  official  warning  entailed  the  suppression  of  the  paper.  The 
high-souled  chief  editor,  as  well  as  the  members  of  his  staff,  had  but 
one  care  and  one  thought,  and  that  was  to  do  their  duty  toward 


366  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

the  Holy  Father  and  the  Church,  fearless  of  eyery  personal  conse- 
quence. 

On  the  28th  of  January,  late  in  the  evening,  and  after  the  country 
edition  of  the  paper  had  already  been  mailed,  a special  messenger 
brought  to  the  office  a copy  of  the  last  encyclical.  To  publish  it 
without  the  previous  permission  of  the  government,  would  constitute 
a flagrant  violation  of  one  of  the  worst  Napoleonic  laws.  Louis 
Veuillot  had  no  sooner  received  the  papal  letter  than  he  said  to  his 
associates,  ‘‘This  is  our  death-warrant ; our  paper  will  not  be  living 
to-morrow  night.”  “We  felt,”  continued  the  chivalrous  journalist, 
“rather  a sentiment  of  deep  joy  to  have  found  so  glorious  an  op- 
portunity of  perishing,  and  we  set  about  translating  the  encyclical, 
in  order  to  have  it  inserted  in  the  morning  edition,  before  any  pro- 
hibition could  be  sent  to  us,  and  to  prevent  the  paper  from  being 
seized  in  the  printing  room.  ” 

Tie  decree  of  suppression  did  not  fail  to  appear  in  the  Monitcur 
on  the  29th,  but  not  till  the  plain  story  told  in  the  encyclical  had 
found  its  way  into  every  Catholic  home  in  Paris,  and  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  great  city.  The  great  journalist  and  the  paper  which 
his  genius  had  raised  so  high,  had  had  many  warm  opponents  among 
Catholics  ; but  this  suppression  made  friends  of  former  foes.  While 
steps  were  taken  to  fill  the  place  left' empty  by  the  Univers,  Veuillot 
and  his  associates  wrote  and  published,  on  February  the  2d,  a letter 
to  the  Holy  Father,  which  deserves,  as  well  as  the  names  of  its 
signers,  to  find  a conspicuous  place  in  the  records  of  this  glorious 
23ontificate. 

“ Most  Holt  Fathee  : — After  the  blow  which  has  fallen  on  them, 
the  first  need  and  the  greatest  consolation  experienced  by  the  editors 
of  the  Univers,  is  to  kneel  at  your  feet.  Our  journal  exists  no  long- 
er, but  our  hearts  shall  continue  to  be  more  than  ever  animated  by 
the  zeal,  which,  thank  God,  never  ceased  to  inspire  our  labors.  Sons 
of  the  holy  Roman  Church,  we  are  happy  to  be  stricken  down  for 
having  given  publicity  to  the  words  of  your  Holiness.  An  encycli- 
cal of  Pius  IX.  had  called  the  Univers  into  life ; it  is  for  an  ency- 
clical of  Pius  IX.  that  it  is  now  deprived  of  life.  God  and  Pius  IX. 
be  thanked  for  both  of  these ! Our  work  belonged  indeed  to  you. 
Most  Holy  Father ; now.  our  hearts,  our  labors,  our  persons,  are  for- 
ever yours. 

“Most  Holy  Father,  we  crave  your  indulgence  for  our  past  errors ; 


Suppression  of  the  Univers — Crusade^  367 

they  were  committed  in  no  wickedness  of  heart  and  with  no  evil  in- 
tention. We  beseech  yon  to  add  to  this  a blessing  for  the  future,  in 
order  that,  should  we  he  ever  able  to  rise  to  life  again,  we  may  with 
the  same  lofty  purpose  accomplish  more  praiseworthy  deeds.  We 
are  resolved  to  remain  united,  so  far  as  that  is  possible.  Should  we 
be  compelled  to  separate,  each  one  shall  labor  apart  in  the  spirit 
which  guides  our  common  efforts.  If  your  Holiness  should  call  any 
one  of  us  to  a special  field  of  labor,  he  would  forthwith  obey  as  to 
the  voice  of  God. 

At  the  feet  of  your  Holiness,  your  most  humble, 

* most  grateful,  and  ever-faithful  sons, 

Louis  Veuillot  ; Du  Lac  ; Eugene  Veuillot  ; 
CoQUiLLE  ; Aubineau  ; Eupeet  ; J.  Chan- 
TEEL ; De  la  Koche-Heeon  ; The  Count  de 
LA  Toue,  member  of  the  Legislative  Body; 
The  Count  de  Maumigny  ; Abbe  Coenet  ; 
Baeeiee;  Taconet.” 

The  affectionate  and  fatherly  answer  came  before  the  end  of  the 
month,  not  in  the  cold  courtly  phrase  of  princely  correspondence, 
but  uttered  with  the  generous  effusion  that  yearned  to  assure  every 
man  of  that  noble  band,  that  he  was  most  specially  dear  to  the  heart 
of  the  pontiff.  As  Veuillot  had  asked,  the  blessing  sent  so  promptly 
and  so  warmly  did  recall  to  life  the  Univers,  and  it  remained  a 
power  for  good  after  Napoleon  had  passed  away,  and  the  empire  he 
had  created  had  vanished,  at  Sedan,  like  a dissolving  view. 

Catholic  Christendom,  so  powerfully  moved  by  the  sacrilegious 
course  of  the  Italian  revolutionists,  by  the  treachery  of  imperial 
France  and  liberal  England,  and  still  more  by  the  words  of  the 
Holy  Father,  the  eloquent  denunciations  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
episcopacy,  and  such  thrilling  words  and  acts  as  those  just  recorded 
of  Louis  Veuillot,  resolved  not  to  forsake  the  cause  of  the  Church. 
Modern  Home  was  the  creation  of  the  western  nations ; it  was  the 
home  built  up  for  the  common  parent,  to  secure  his  independence 
and  his  freedom  ; and  threatened  as  that  home  now  was  by  an  anti- 
Christian  crusade,  a counter-crusade  occurred  spontaneously  to  every 
Catholic  mind. 

Not  only  in  France  and  Belgium,  where  the  Univers  had  ever 
been  a power,  and  where  the  self-sacrificing  devotion  of  its  editors 
had  created  a real  enthusiasm,  but  in  Canada,  France’s  old  colony. 


368 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

and  now  fast  growing  into  a nation,  the  best  families  urged  their 
sons  to  fly  to  the  defense  of  the  Holy  Sea.  Ireland,  too,  ever  devoted 
to  the  chair  of  Peter,  ever  prompt  to  emulate  the  generous  examples 
of  other  peoples,  would  not  bo  behind  France  or  Belgium  in  pro- 
tecting one  so  especially  dear  to  her  as  Pius  IX. 

So  the  spirit  which  awoke  in  Western  Europe  at  the  voice  of 
Peter  the  Hermit  and  the  call  of  Urban  II.  was  now  abroad  again. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


The  PoifTiFiCAL  Army  iktei^ded  for  Defense — The  Pope  ex- 
horted AND  ENCOURAGED  TO  FORM  AN  ArMY — RlQHT  TO 
EMPLOY  Foreigners — The  Volunteers  of  1860  — ‘‘The 
Sons  of  the  Crusaders’’ — De  Merode,  De  La  Moriciere 
— Concerted  Action  between  Napoleon  and  Cayour— 
Plans  of  the  Latter — He  resolves  to  ‘'Do  Quickly” — 
Brutal  and  Insulting  Proclamations — Bad  Faith  of 
Cayour  and  his  Generals — La  Moriciere  unprepared 
FOR  Piedmontese  Aggression — He  marches  to  the  Adria- 
tic— Battle  of  Castel-Fidardo — Bombardment  and  Fall 
OF  Ancona — Protest  of  Prussia  and  Eussia — Complicity 
OF  France  and  England — Eetribution — Allocutions — A 
Third  Pamphlet  from  Napoleon — Antonelli  Eeplies — 
Death  of  Cayour. 

1860-1863. 

WHEN  it  is  said  that  the  spirit  which  fired  the  Christians  of 
western  Europe  in  the  days  of  St.  Bernard  and  Peter  the  Her- 
mit, was  abroad  in  the  beginning  of  1860,  we  must  not  imagine  that 
it  entered  the  mind  of  those  who  encouraged  this  moyement  of  Catho- 
lic generosity,  or  of  those  who  took  an  active  part  in  it,  to  make  an 
aggressive  war  on  the  Piedmontese  government.  The  sole  purpose 
which  animated  the  chivalrous  youth  of  all  Catholic  countries  in 
urging  them  to  enter  the  pontifical  service,  was  to  help  in  providing 
the  Holy  Father  with  an  army  sufficient  to  maintain  the  tranquillity 
of  his  States,  and  to  defend  them  against  the  piratical  attacks  of 
such  men  as  Garibaldi. 

It  is  extremely  important  to  give  a clear  statement  of  the  ac- 
knowledged right  in  virtue  of  which  the  pontifical  government 
accepted  these  volunteer  services,  and  of  that  which  the  youth  of 
Christendom  exercised  in  offering  them.  This  will  enable  the 
reader  to  appreciate  the  tragic  hut  glorious  events  related  in  this 
chapter. 

One  of  the  points  settled  in  the  congress  of  the  Catholic  powers, 

369 


370 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


held  at  Oaeta,  was,  that  on  the  Holy  Father’s  being  restored  to  his 
capital,  he  should  be  encouraged  and  aided  in  every  way,  in  the  for- 
mation of  an  army,  which  should  in  future  dispense  him  from  calling 
in  the  assistance  of  any  foreign  power.  This  was  to  be  a common 
object  of  solicitude  for  all  the  Catholic  governments,  and,  while  it 
aimed  at  securing  the  States  of  the  Church  from  internal  disturbance 
and  protecting  them  against  the  raids  of  the  outside  ^‘sects’’  and 
agitators,  it  would  also  put  an  end  to  the  jealousy  created  by  a pro- 
tectorate exercised  by  any  one  power. 

Up  to  that  moment  (1849)  it  had  been  considered  the  unquestion- 
able right  of  every  sovereign  power  in  Europe,  to  enlist  in  its  armies 
all  who  chose  to  take  service  therein.  And  the  right  had  been  exer- 
cised by  every  country  in  Christendom.  Nay,  even  in  that  same 
year,  France  had  her  foreign  legion  in  Africa,  while  in  the  very  army 
with  which  Garibaldi  invaded  Sicily,  and  which  was  still  (in  1860) 
busy  at  its  work  of  rapine  and  sacrilege  in  Naples  and  its  vicinity, 
there  was  not  only  a Hungarian  legion,”  but  Frenchmen  and  ban- 
di  tti  of  almost  every  European  nationality. 

Conscription,  or  forced  enlistment,  had  never  been  admitted  by 
the  Popes  as  a means  of  raising  or  recruiting  an  army ; and  the 
Eomans  had  till  then  manifested  but  little  disposition  toward  form- 
ing a native  standing  army.  Besides,  the  right  claimed  by  every 
nation  in  the  world  to  employ  the  services  of  foreign  troops,  seemed 
far  less  open  to  objection  in  the  case  of  the  sovereign  pontiff,  who 
was  the  common  parent,  and  whose  States  were  the  patrimony  of  the 
entire  Christian  society,  and  who  had,  therefore,  a claim  on  the  ser- 
vices of  all  nations  to  defend  his  independence. 

This  was  as  much  an  unquestioned  fact  in  the  jurisprudence  of 
Christendom,  as  the  legality  of  Magna  Charta  or  the  laws  of  Alfred 
the  Great  was  undisputed  in  England. 

Ever  since  1850,  England  had  unceasingly  complained  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  French  troops  in  Eome,  and  of  the  Austrian  troops  in 
the  Legations ; and  both  France  and  Austria  had  urged  the  Holy 
Father  to  hasten  the  completion  of  a sufficient  and  effective  military 
force,  encouraging  even  their  own  best  officers  to  aid  in  forwarding 
this  purpose.  Before  the  war  of  1859  had  broken  out,  there  existed 
a large  body  of  pontifical  troops  composed  in  great  part  of  foreigners. 
The  appeal  made  in  the  beginning  of  1860,  to  the  youth  of  all 
Catholic  countries,  was  stimulated  by  the  threat  of  withdrawing  the 
French  army  of  occupation. 


371 


No  Catholics  Foreigners  in  Rome, 

They  did  not  consider  themselves  foreigners,  therefore,  these  brave 
men  who  in  the  spring  and  summer  of  1860  hastened  to  Rome  from 
every  part  of  the  Chi-istian  world  ; and  surely  they  were  no  merce- 
naries. Every  country  gave  its  veiy  best.  One  has  only  to  read  the 
long  lists  of  French,  Belgian,  Austrian,  German,  and  Irish  names, 
which  fill  up  the  roll  of  those  who  fought  under  La  Moriciere  and 
Pimodan  and  O’Reilly,  to  feel  that  the  best  blood  of  the  old  Catholic 
races  pulsated  in  these  brave  hearts. 

The  pontifical  minister  of  war,  De  Merode,  was  worthy  to  be 
looked  up  to  by  all  these  men.  A lineal  descendant  of  St.  Elizabeth 
of  Hungary,  his  family  was  allied  with  nearly  every  royal  house  in 
Europe,  his  cousin  being  at  that  moment  the  wife  of  a prince  of 
Victor  Emmanuel’s  family.  He  had  served  as  a volunteer  in  Africa, 
under  De  La  Moriciere,  whose  heroic  qualities,  lofty  principles,  and 
unstained  honor,  he,  as  well  as  the  entire  French  army  and  nation, 
had  learned  to  admire.  The  conqueror  of  Abd-el-Kader,  the  paci- 
fier of  Africa,  had  been  exiled  by  Louis  Hapoleon  ; for  his  was  not 
the  spirit  to  bend  to  such  tortuous  policy  as  was  in  favor  with  the 
new  ruler  of  France.  But  De  Merode  sought  his  old  commander,  and 
drew  him  from  his  retireme?at  to  serve  the  vicar  of  Christ,  and  help 
protect  his  temporal  sovereignty  from  imminent  peril. 

And  to  Rome  De  La  Moriciere  went,  with  the  best  wishes  and 
prayers  of  French  marshals  and  generals,  his  former  pupils  in  the 
art  of  war,  his  associates  in  many  a campaign,  and  his  steadfast 
friends  and  admirers.  For  they  were  all  proud  of  him.  And  not 
even  St.  Louis,  when  he  sailed  for  Palestine,  could  look  with  greater 
pride  on  the  roll  of  honor  formed  by  his  followers.  They  too — these 
generous  young  men,  some  of  them  still  in  their  teens,  were  nearly 
every  one  of  them  sons  of  the  old  crusaders — the  proud  sons  of  noble 
mothers  who  sent  them  forth  joyously  to  guard  the  home  and  the 
person  of  the  Pope. 

This  book  does  not  aim  at  relating  military  evolutions.  There 
exists  in  the  report  of  the  heroic  commander-in-chief  a complete  and 
thrilling  story  of  the  little  army  and  its  brief  career.  FTo  one  has 
ever  dared  to  question  a single  assertion  in  that  simple  and  straight- 
forward tale  of  one  who  was  the  soul  of  honor  and  truth. 

There  was  surely  need  of  brave  men  and  true  to  defend  from  worse 
than  military  invasion,  and  the  desolation  which  it  usually  brings 
with  it,  the  possessions  of  the  Holy  See.  Without  speaking  of  Gari- 
baldi and  the  murderous  bands  which  followed  his  standard,  there 


372 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


were  all  around  the  frontiers  of  Umbria  clouds  of  robbers  and  assas- 
sins wliose  sole  business  it  was  to  keep  the  pontifical  provinces  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  alarm  and  disorder,  by  their  incursions  and  deeds 
of  blood  and  violence.  We  need  only  say  that  at  the  bead  of  these 
bands  were  such  commanders  as  our  old  acquaintance  Zambianchi,* 
Masi,  and  Nicotera,  doing  their  devil’s  work  under  the  protection  of 
the  white  cross  of  Savo}". 

On  the  9th  of  August  Napoleon  III.,  now  sovereign  of  Savoy, 
visited  that  province,  and  had  an  interview  at  Chambery  with  Gen- 
erals Fanti,  the  Piedmontese  minister  of  war,  and  Cialdini.  It  is  said 
that  Napoleon  combined  with  them  the  destruction  of  the  papal 
army  under  La  Moriciere,  and  sent  them  away  with  the  words.  Fate 
presto!  ^‘Do  quickly.”  There  is  no  authentic  proof  of  this.  But 
after  his  interview  with  the  generals  he  was  more  than  once  heard  to 
say  to  those  around  him  : 

^^If  Piedmont  believes  this  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  save  her- 
self and  to  save  Italy  from  great  danger,  be  it  so  ; but  she  must  act 
on  lier  own  responsibility ; let  her  remember  that  if  she  be  attacked 
by  Austria,  France  cannot  defend  her.”  But  Cavour  cared  little 
about  what  Napoleon  had  said ; he  knew  his  man  well,  and  was  per- 
fectly aware  that  the  pamphlet,  ^^The  Pope  and  the  Congress,” 
meant  as  surely  ^^the  Eomagna  and  the  Marches  are  yours,”  as  the 
pamphlet  ‘^Napoleon  III.  and  Italy”  meant  '^prepare  for  war  with 
Austria,  and  occupy  the  Eomagna  and  the  Marches..” 

So  far  as  Cavour  and  Piedmont  were  concerned  in  the  drama 
about  to  be  enacted,  this  was  the  part  assumed  by  the  prime  minis- 
ter : He  was  resolved,  in  order  to  save  appearances  in  presence  of 
Europe,  to  prevent  Garibaldi  from  marching  on  Eome  from  Naples, 
and  thus  bringing  on  a collision  with  the  imperial  troops  garrison- 
ing Eome.  He  therefore  resolved  to  march  the  Piedmontese  army 
under  Fanti  and  Cialdini  through  Umbria  and  the  Commarca  to  the 
frontier  of  Naples,  and  thus  take  the  leadership  of  the  revolutionary 
movement  out  of  the  hands  of  Garibaldi.  At  the  same  time  lie  would 
crush  the  pontifical  army  just  in  a state  of  formation  ; and  he  knew 
that  for  this  he  would  have  the  thanks  of  Napoleon,  whose  ambassa- 
dor, the  Duke  de  Gramont,  had  been  taking  pains  to  represent  the 
little  army  as  a nursery  of  ‘‘legitimism,”  and  the  pilgrimages  made 
to  Eome  since  January,  as  so  many  legitimist  demonstrations. 


See  page  287. 


King  Victor  EmmanueVs  Conscie7ice,  373 

He  did  not  greatly  apprehend  an  attack  from  Austria  : but  be 
nevertheless  wrote  to  General  La  Marmora  to  do  all  he  could  to  keep 
the  attention  of  the  Austrian  generals  fixed  on  the  Piedmontese 
forces  in  Lombardy,  relieved  Fanti  of  the  ministry  of  war,  and 
Persano  of  that  of  marine,  taking  both  of  them  on  himself  in  addi- 
tion to  that  of  the  interior,  gave  them  directions  to  be  ready  to  act 
at  a moment’s  notice  by  sea  and  land  in  order  to  strike  La  Moriciere, 
who  was  to  be  driven  into  Ancona,  while  he  was  himself  to  bully 
Antonelli  and  deceive  him  with  diplomatic  feints. 

He  wrote  to  Persano:  “Oialdini  is  about  to  enter  the  Marches 
and  to  proceed  rapidly  toward  Ancona ; but  he  does  not  think  he 
can  take  that  place  without  energetic  assistance  from  our  fleet. 
Tell  me  what  you  think  is  necessary  to  assure  success,  and  how  you 
intend  to  secure  it.” 

There  is  a brutal  ultimatum  from  Cavour  to  Cardinal  Antonelli. 
The  King  of  Sardinia  cannot  see  without  deep  concern  ^Hhe  forma- 
tion of  bodies  of  foreign  mercenary  troops  for  the  service  of  the 
pontifical  government.  These  organizations,  formed  in  opposition 
to  the  customs  of  civilized  government,  of  men  of  every  language 
and  nationality  and  religion,  deeply  wounds  the  public  conscience 
in  Italy  and  throughout  Europe.  . . . The  conscience  of  King 

Victor  Emmanuel  cannot  allow  him  to  remain  the  passive  spectator 
of  the  sanguinary  repression  by  which  the  arms  of  mercenary  stran- 
gers might  drown  in  Italian  blood  all  manifestation  of  national  feel- 
ing. ...  I have  therefore  the  honor  to  invite  your  Eminence 
to  order  forthwith  the  disarming  of  these  bodies.  . . .” 

Just  the  day  before,  the  Duke  de  Gramont  assured  the  pontifical 
government  that  they  had  no  one  to  fear  but  Garibaldi.  And, 
without  waiting  for  an  answer  from  Cardinal  Antonelli,  Cavour 
published  in  the  next  edition  of  the  official  Gazette  of  Turin,  a pro- 
clamation of  the  king  to  his  army  telling  them  that  they  were  going 
to  invade  the  Marches  and  Umbria,  to  restore  public  order  in 
desolated  cities,  and  to  enable  the  population  to  express  their  wishes, 
. . . to  teach  by  their  example  the  forgiveness  of  injuries  and 

Christian  tolerance,”  etc. 

Cialdini  had  not  waited  for  the  royal  proclamation  to  cross  the 
frontier  and  to  put  forth  his  manifesto : Soldiers ! I am  leading 
you  against  a horde  of  foreign  drunkards,  whom  the  lust  of  gold  and 
the  hope  of  plunder  has  brought  to  our  country.  Eight,  disperse 
inexorably  these  miserable  cut-throats  ; let  them  feel  in  your  blows 


374  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

the  wrath  of  a people  who  will  have  their  nationality  and  indepen 
dence  ! ” 

This  was  on  the  10th  and  11th  of  September.  On  the  16th  the 
Duke  de  Gramont  telegraphed  to  the  French  consul  at  Ancona : 
‘‘The  emperor  has  written  to  the  King  of  Sardinia,  that  if  the  Pied- 
montese troops  set  foot  on  the  pontifical  territory,  he  shall  be  forced 
to  oppose  it.  Orders  have  already  been  given  to  embark  troops  at 
Toulon,  and  these  re-enforcements  are  to  come  here  without  delay. 
The  imperial  government  will  not  tolerate  the  criminal  aggression  of 
the  Piedmontese  government.”  In  transmitting  the  dispatch  the 
operator  had  said  that  the  emperor  would  “oppose  it  by  force,”  in- 
stead of  “ be  forced  to  oppose  it.”  The  sense,  taken  with  the  context, 
was  manifestly  the  same,  and  there  was  a little  diplomatic  squabble 
about  it  gotten  up  by  the  Duke  de  Gramont.  Meanwhile  the  Pied- 
montese forces  were  moving  on  swiftly  and  relentlessly  toward  the 
unsuspecting  papal  army.  The  “hands”  led  by  Zamhianchi,  Masi, 
Nicotera,  and  their  peers,  had  passed  the  papal  frontier  simulta- 
neously, in  advance  of  the  royal  troops.  General  de  La  Moriciere 
telegraphed  for  information  on  these  movements,  and  was  informed 
(about  the  8th  September)  that  Piedmont  would  not  allow  these 
bands  to  create  disturbance,  and  that  the  Piedmontese  troops  which 
would  follow  them,  would  not  attack  the  papal  soldiers. 

“I  was  contending  with  these  uncertainties,”  says  de  La  Moriciere 
in  his  report,  “when,  during  the  afternoon  of  the  10th,  the  amval 
of  Captain  Farini,  aid-de-camp  to  General  Fanti,  relieved  me  from 
all  doubt.  . . . The  general,  by  order  of  the  King  of  Piedmont, 

informed  me  that  his  troops  should  take  possession  of  the  Marches 
and  Umbria  in  the  following  cases  : 

“1.  If  troops  under  my  command  in  any  city  of  these  provinces 
should  have  to  use  force  to  repress  any  manifestation  in  the  national 
sense ; 

“2.  If  I gave  order  to  my  troops  to  march  on  a city  in  which  such 
a manifestation  occurred ; 

“3.  If  such  a manifestation  having  occurred,  and  having  been 
repressed  by  my  orders,  I did  not  forthwith  withdraw  my  troops 
from  the  city.  . . . 

“Captain  Farini  having  told  me  that  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  contents  of  this  dispatch,  I observed  to  him  that  the  proposition 
made  to  me  simply  demanded  that  I should  evacuate  without  a 
struggle  the  provinces  I had  been  sent  to  defend ; that  this  simply 


375 


La  Mor icier e Starts  for  Ancona, 

meant  sliame  and  disgrace  for  me ; and  the  King  of  Piedmont  might 
have  spared  himself  the  trouble  of  sending  such  a missive.  . . 

General  Fanti  telegraphed  almost  immediately  to  his  aid-de-camp 
to  return  without  waiting  for  an  answer  from  the  pontifical  govern- 
ment ! 

The  rest  is  soon  told.  The  reader  is  prepared  for  the  catastrophe 
which  followed  so  speedily  on  this  atrocious  violation  of  all  right  and 
law,  and  even  international  courtesy.  The  pontifical  army  not  only 
was  not  on  a war  footing,  hufc  was  only  very  partially  organized, 
armed,  and  equipped.  The  Irish  brigade,  among  others,  had  not 
even  havresacks  or  cartouche-hoxes.  Three  hundred  men  of  this 
brigade  were  thrown  into  the  Eocca  of  Spoleto,  the  artillery  of  the 
place  being  in  charge  of  a French  officer.  Captain  de  Baye,  Major 
O’Eeilly  having  the  chief  command ; and  with  a warm  farewell  to 
him  and  his  brave  boys.  La  Moriciffi’e  left  them  at  dawn  on  the  12th, 
and  with  about  three  battalions  and  one  company  of  the  Irish  bri- 
gade, he  set  out  for  Macerata  by  the  shortest  road  through  Foligno, 
Camerino,  and  Tolentino.  His  purpose  was  to  arrive  at  Ancona 
before  the  Piedmontese  ; and  it  was  precisely  into  Ancona  that  the 
Piedmontese  wished  to  decoy  him  and  his  unprepared  little  army,  in 
order  to  crush  them  at  one  blow. 

At  Foligno  La  Moriciere  was  joined  by  his  lieutenant.  Marquis  de 
Pimodan,  and  both  fully  ^ware  that  there  was  treachery  abroad,  has- 
tened to  do  what  brave  soldiers  always  do,  to  face  overwhelming  odds 
in  the  discharge  of  duty.  On  arriving  at  Macerata,  the  general- 
in-chief  received  from  Cardinal  Antonelli  a copy  of  De  Gramont’s 
dispatch  to  the  French  consul  at  Ancona,  and  from  Ancona  itself  he 
received  a communication,  written  by  a person  in  authority  at  Trieste, 
assuring  him  that  ^Hhe  Austrian  fieet  would  cruise  to  the  south  of 
Ancona  to  prevent  its  being  blockaded  ; and  that  the  squadron  was 
a considerable  one  and  well  commanded.’’  All  these  informations 
were  communicated  to  the  pontifical  troops,  who  received  them  with 
evident  satisfaction. 

Nevertheless  the  Piedmontese  army  was  pushing  forward  with 
irresistible  numbers  and  energy,  carrying  before  them  every  strong- 
hold in  Umbria  and  the  Marches.  On  the  17th  O’Eeilly  was  beset 
in  Spoleto  by  General  Brignone  with  a powerful  force  and  a numer- 
ous artillery,  while  the  Eocca  of  Spoleto  had  to  defend  it  two  old 
iron  cannon  mounted  on  half -rotten  carriages.  For  twelve  entire 
hours  the  little  band  of  Irishmen,  half-armed  as  they  were,  kept  at 


376 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


bay  a Tvliole  corps  of  the  regular  Piedmontese  army,  and  only  capitu- 
lated when  resistance  was  hopeless  and  honor  had  been  amply  yin- 
dicated. 

On  the  yery  same  day  General  de  La  Morici^re  was  at  Loreto  with 
2,000  infantry,  and  De  Pimodan,  with  2,600  : they  found  themselyes 
almost  entirely  hemmed  in  by  the  Piedmontese  ; they  were  without 
proyisions  and  without  money  to  buy  them,  the  army  treasure-chest 
haying  been  carried  oft  by  mistake  to  Ancona.  From  Castel-Fidardo, 
occupying  the  crest  of  a group  pf  lofty  hills  to  the  left  of  the  road  to 
Ancona,  to  Loreto  the  way  was,  purposely,  left  open  by  the  Pied- 
montese. They  wanted  to  press  the  pontifical  troops  northward 
toward  the  great  fortress,  like  hunters  in  the  African  wilds  driy- 
ing  their  game  toward  the  apex  of  a long  double  line  of  inclosure, 
where  escape  must  be  impossible.  From  Sinigaglia,  on  the  other  side 
of  Ancona,  the  Piedmontese  had  already  swept  eyerything  before 
them. 

On  the  18th  of  September  La  Moriciere  began  his  perilous  march, 
the  enemy  pressing  on  his  rear  and  threatening  his  line  of  march 
from  the  high  hills  aboye.  De  Pimodan’s  corps  was  in  adyance,  and 
wdth  him  the  hundred  men  of  the  brigade  of  St.  Patrick,  who  did 
good  seryice  in  getting  the  artillery  across  the  ford  at  the  confluence 
of  the  riyers  Musone  and  Aspio,  in  hauling  the  pieces  up  the  steep 
acclivities  beyond,  and  in  protecting  them  throughout  that  disastrous 
day. 

The  raw  recruits  had  neyer  been  under  fire  before,  and,  hemmed 
in  as  they  found  themselyes  'by  the  sea  on  their  right  and  the 
enemy’s  oyerwhelming  numbers  and  rifled  artillery  on  the  heights 
aboye  their  left,  they  were  ready  for  a panic.  The  oldest  and 
brayest  troops  could  haye  had  but  few  chances  in  their  fayor  under 
such  circumstances.  As  it  was,  the  heroic  comrgander-in-chief  and 
his  principal  officers  only  thought  of  saying  their  honor  and  sparing 
the  liyes  of  the  men  they  commanded. 

The  braye  De  Pimodan,  who  had  to  dislodge  the  left  wing  of  the 
Piedmontese  from  two  strong  positions,  had  infused  his  owm  spirit 
into  his  men.  He  was  wounded  early  in  the  day,  but  continued  to 
giye  his  orders  and  lead  his  men.  But  in  the  yery  crisis  of  the  bat- 
tle he  fell  mortally  wounded,  and  as  they  bore  him  dying  down 
toward  the  riyer,  his  commander-in-chief  could  only  press  his  hand 
and  sa;^  a few  loying  farewell  words.  This  was  the  greatest  misfor- 
tune of  all.  For  the  wooded  hills  and  the  farm-houses  were  now 


Fall  of  Anco7ia — Recrimhiatio7is — RetrihUion^  377 


swarming  with  the  victorious  Piedmontese,  and  the  disordered  bat- 
talions had  to  thread  their  way  through  what  seemed  a labyrinth  of 
flame. 

The  bulk  of  the  pontifical  army  was  separated  from  the  comman- 
der-in-chief and  retreated  to  Loreto,  while  he  with  a little  more  than 
400  men  endeavored  to  cut  his  way  through  to  Ancona.  Three- 
fourths  of  these  were,  however,  shot  down  or  taken  prisoners,  aud  La 
Moriciere  had  only  eighty  men  around  his  flag,  with  Captain  Delpech, 
when,  at  half-past  five  o’clock  in  the  afternoon,  he  entered  Ancona, 
bombarded  at  that  moment  by  the  Piedmontese  fleet. 

It  was  a horrible  outrage  ; for  no  time  had  been  given  to  non-bel- 
ligerents to  withdraw,  and  these  suffered  more  in  the  beginning  than 
the  feeble  garrison  itself.  The  revolutionary  committee  had  been 
careful  to  send  out  of  the  city  all  the  provisions  available  for  the 
troops.  The  forces  shut  up  in  Loreto  capitulated  on  the  27th  of 
September,  and  on  the  28th,  after  ten  days  of  fierce  bombardment, 
being  completely  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  and  the  defensive  works 
being  breached  on  every  side.  La  Moriciere  demanded  to  capitulate. 

History  has  recorded,  that  the  behavior  of  the  Piedmontese  toward 
the  illustrious  soldier  and  his  brave  men,  was  just  as  dastardly  as 
could  be  expected  from  the  spirit  displayed  by  their  proclamations 
and  acts  at  the  beginning  of  this  inglorious  campaign. 

European  public  opinion  did  not  fail  to  utter  some  unpalatable 
trutlis  on  Cavour  and  his  king,  and  their  generals.  The  London 
Times  reproached  the  Piedmontese  premier  with  not  being  able  to 

understand  that  a frank  and  honorable  line  of  action  is  not  incom- 
patible with  patriotism.”  Manin,  from  his  exile  in  Paris,  said  bit- 
terly that  no  victory  deserves  to  be  weighed  in  the  balance  against 
the  contempt  of  self.” 

The  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  could  not  withhold  the  expression  of 
its  anger  caused  by  such  unprecedented  baseness  and  bad  faith.  ^^It 
is  not  Garibaldi  and  his  volunteers,”  it  said,  that  General  de  La 
Moriciere  had  to  fight ; the  odds  would  in  that  case  not  have  been 
so  unequal ; but  it  is  the  regular  army  of  Piedmont  he  had  before 
him,  an  army  six  times  more  numerous  than  his  own.  Hor  is  it  the 
mere  attack  of  a revolutionary  party  which  is  now  directed  against 
the  temporal  power  of  the  papacy  ; it  is  a government  incomparably 
more  powerful  than  the  Pope’s,  which  decrees  arbitrarily,  itself 
alone,  and  in  the  face  of  the  other  nations  of  the  world,  the  suppres- 
sion of  this  power,  and  which  accomplishes  that  suppression  by  the 


378  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 

resistless  force  of  its  arms,  and  under  the  eyes  of  our  garrison  in 
Rome  ! ” 

The  two  great  western  powers — France  and  England — were  the 
abettors  of  this  spoliation,  of  this  unprovoked  and  iniquitous  war, 
made  on  that  venerable  sovereignty  which  had  been  the  central  force 
in  the  creation  of  western  Christendom.  Even  before  the  fall  of 
Ancona  became  known,  Russia  and  Prussia  both  withdrew  their  am- 
bassadors from  Turin ; France  did  so  a little  later ; but  England  still 
maintained  Sir  John  Hudson  at  Turin,  as  Cavour’s  confidant  and 
chief  counselor,  while  Sir  Henry  Elliot  continued  to  reside  at  Naples 
at  Garibaldi’s  head-quarters. 

To  the  energetic  protestations  of  the  Prussian  prime  minister,  Yon 
Schleinitz,  Cavour  made  answer  in  words  that  were  prophetic  : I 
regret  that  the  court  of  Berlin  should  judge  so  severely  the  conduct 
of  the  king  and  his  government.  I am  conscious  of  acting  in  con- 
formity with  the  interests  of  my  sovereign  and  my  country.  I might 
reply  successfully  to  what  M.  Von  Schleinitz  says ; but,  be  that  as  it 
may,  / console  myself  with  the  thought  that  on  the  ^present  occasion  1 
am  setting  an  example  which  Prussia,  within  a short  time,  prolally, 
icill  he  happy  to  folloiv.’^  * 

Yes,  Prussia,  now  that  solemn  treaties  are  only  made  to  be  broken, 
and  international  law  only  binds  the  weak,  will  grow  at  the  expense 
of  her  weaker  neighbors.  A decade — just  a decade — from  that  mem- 
orable 28th  of  September,  1860,  when  the  Pope’s  temporal  sovereignty 
disappeared  with  the  fiag  that  was  lowered  on  the  crumbling  walls  of 
Ancona,  the  imperial  power  of  France  will  be  as  sorely  bestead  in 
Sedan.  With  the  supremacy  of  France  fell  that  of  England.  To- 
day, within  the  second  decade,  after  this  shameful  betrayal  of  all 
right,  what  weight  have  England  and  France  in  the  councils  of  con- 
tinental Europe  ? Russia  and  Prussia  alone  decide  on  peace  and  war, 
and  Austria,  w'ho  looked  calmly  from  her  splendid  fortresses  of  the 
Quadrilateral  on  the  triumphant  march  of  the  crowned  brigand, 
Victor  Emmanuel,  and  kept  her  fleet  idle  in  the  waters  of  Trieste, 
within  sound  of  the  cannon  of  Ancona,  shall  see  her  flag  disappear 
from  every  inch  of  Italian  soil,  her  German  territory  crippled,  and 
her  shadowy  imperial  existence  tolerated  by  Prussia  and  Russia,  till 
the  Turkish  question  is  settled  on  the  basis  of  the  new  European  law 
inaugurated  by  Cavour. 

Two  solemn  acts  of  Pius  IX.  in  connection  with  this  ‘^new  depar- 


* Charles  de  Mazade,  La  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  November  15,  1876,  p.  421. 


Allocution  of  Pius  IX,  379 

ture  ” in  international  jurisprudence  and  public  morality  must  be 
mentioned  here. 

While  his  soldiers  were  dying  in  defense  of  his  independence  at 
Ancona,  he  was  preparing  one  of  those  consistorial  allocutions,  which, 
although  addressed  to  the  College  of  Cardinals,  are  especially  des- 
tined for  the  governments  of  Christendom  in  their  relations  with 
the  Holy  See.  This  was  delivered  on  the  28th  of  September,  the 
very  day  when  Ancona  surrendered  to  the  Piedmontese  army  and 
fleet.  The  allocution  briefly  but  eloquently  enumerates  the  succes- 
sive acts  of  aggression  committed  by  the  Piedmontese  government : 
‘^the  impudent  letter”  of  Cavour,  sent  as  a preface  justifying  the 
subsequent  violation  of  territory  and  all  its  accompanying  blood- 
shed ; ^^the  lying  accusations,  the  multiplied  calumnies  and  insults” 
put  forward  as  a pretext  for  the  invasion  ; ‘^the  singular  malignity 
with  which  the  Piedmontese  government  dared  to  call  the  pontifi- 
cal soldiers  mercenaries,  when  so  many  of  them,  both  Italians  and 
foreigners,  were  of  noble  lineage,  bearing  illustrious  names,  and  had 
resolved  to  serve  in  our  troops  without  pay,  and  for  the  sole  love  of 
our  holy  religion.” 

^‘Our  government  could  have  had  no  intimation  of  the  enemy’s 
purpose.  . . . The  general  and  chief  commanding  our  forces 

could  not  have  entertained  the  thought  of  having  to  contend  with 
the  soldiers  of  Piedmont.  . . . While  we  must  bestow  merited 

praise  on  that  general,  on  his  officers,  and  on  his  men,  ...  we 
can  scarcely  restrain  our  tears  as  we  remember  all  those  brave  soldiers, 
these  noble  young  men  especially,  who  had  been  impelled  by  faith 
and  their  own  generous  hearts  to  fly  to  the  defense  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Roman  Church,  and  who  have  met  with  their  death  in 
this  cruel  and  unjust  invasion.  We  are  deeply  moved  by  the  grief 
of  their  families ; and  would  to  God  it  were  in  our  power  by  any 
word  of  ours  to  dry  up  the  source  of  their  tears  ! ” 

Then  follows  a withering  rebuke  of  the  impudence  and  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  invaders,  who  pretended  to  come  ^^as  the  restorers 
of  moral  order,”  and  the  preachers  of  tolerance  and  charity ; an 
energetic  denunciation  of  the  principle  of  ^^non-intervention,”  which 
is  of  such  recent  origin,  and  on  the  practical  meaning  of  which  the 
conduct  of  Piedmont  is  so  strange  a commentary. 

Cavour  next  went  through  the  farce  of  an  election  in  the  annexed 
provinces,  and  in  October  dictated  to  his  king  a proclamation  in 
answer  to  the  papal  allocution,  as  well  as  to  the  unfavorable  judg- 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


380 

tnents  pronounced  on  his  acts  by  the  European  press.  The  fall  of 
Gaeta,  the  annexation  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  to  Piedmont,  and 
the  last  official  acts  of  the  government  of  Victor  Emmanuel  declar- 
ing the  conquered  pontifical  provinces  a part  of  his  kingdom,  to- 
gether Avith  the  atrocious  outrages  everywhere  committed  on  all 
persons  Avho  dared  to  remain  loyal  to  the  Holy  See,  or  faithful  to 
the  sacred  laws  of  the  Church — all  that  drew  from  the  Holy  Father 
the  famous  allocution  of  March  18th,  1861,  which  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  splendid,  and,  taken  in  connection  Avith  the  Syllabus,  the  most 
, far-reaching  doctrinal  act  of  his  pontificate. 

In  Italy,  in  England,  in  France,  in  some  parts  of  Germany,  and 
eVen  in  our  impulsive  and  unreflecting  America,  though  the  manner 
in  which  Piedmont  had  done  its  work  of  ‘^unification”  was  mildly 
censured,  the  infidel,  the  anti-Christian,  and  the  Protestant  press  ap- 
plauded the  consummation.  The  utter  ruin  of  the  papacy  had  been 
effected,  they  thought,  by  the  hands  of  its  OAvn  children  ; the  whole 
frameAvork  of  the  politico-ecclesiastical  society  of  Italy  was  swept 
away ; the  old  canon  law  was  a thing  of  the  past ; the  union  of 
Church  and  State  a system  as  dead  as  the  theocracy  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  and  the  complete  supremacy  of  the  civil  power  in  educa- 
tion, law,  public  morality,  and  external  discipline,  something  like  a 
century  plant,  growing  slowly  and  maturing  age  after  age  through 
a long  CA'cle  of  change  and  social  experience,  till  the  flower  all  at 
once  bursts  its  sheath,  and  reveals  its  unsuspected  glories  to  the  eyes 
of  a wondering  earth,  filling  all  lands  with  its  perfume  and  its  fame. 
This,  they  said,  was  progress,  this  was  modern  ciAulization.  The 
upsetting,  not  of  time-honored  institutions  only,  hut  of  all  the  prin- 
ciples hitherto  considered  fundamental  and  unchangeable  in  legis- 
lation, in  public  and  private  morality,  in  philosophy,  in  natural 
religion  even,  in  the  essential  notions  of  right  and  justice  regu- 
lating the  transactions  of  man  with  man  and  of  nation  Avith  nation, 
the  sacredness  of  treaties,  the  binding  solemnities  of  an  oath,  the 
reverence  for  the  awful  name  of  the  Godhead,  all  that,  and  much 
more  than  that,  was  set  aside  by  the  “regenerators”  of  Italy, 
as  belonging  only  to  the  past,  as  not  binding  either  on  the  pres- 
ent or  on  the  future.  No  wonder  that  the  Roman  pontiff,  the 
supreme  arbiter  for  so  many  ages  in  all  questions  of  public  and 
private  right,  the  official  guardian  of  morality,  the  custodian  and 
interpreter  of  the  revealed  law  of  God,  the  teacher  of  churches  and 
of  nations,  should  have  recoiled  with  horror  from  the  thought  of 


Modern  Progress  and  Civilization'^  • 381 


* 


anything  like  conciliation  or  compromise  with  the  men  who,  aftei 
having  robbed  him  and  desolated  the  flock  committed  to  his  care, 
challenged  him  to  accept  their  ruthless  changes  and  pitiless  destruc- 
tion as  true  progress,  and  their  principles,  or  rather  their  utter  con- 
tempt of  principle,  as  civilization.  But  let  us  meditate  the  words 
themselves  of  this  memorable  allocution,  Jamdudum  cernimus: 

VEifERABLE  BROTHERS  I — For  a long  space  of  time  we  are  made 
the  beholders  of  a lamentable  struggle,  begotten  of  the  incompati- 
bility of  antagonistic  principles,  between  truth  and  error,  between 
virtue  and  vice,  between  light  and  darkness,  which,  especially  in 
our  age,  agitates  and  convulses  society.  Some  there  are  who  main- 
tain what  they  call  the  notions  of  modern  civilization  ; while  others 
defend  the  rights  of  justice  and  of  our  holy  religion.  The  former 
call  upon  the  Eoman  pontiff  to  effect  a reconciliation  and  an  alli- 
ance between  himself  and  progress,  liberalism — the  new  civilization. 
The  latter  are  laudably  anxious  that  the  unchangeable  and  unfail- 
ing principles  of  eternal  justice  shall  be  preserved  in  their  inviolable 
integrity.  They  desire  that  the  saving  power  of  our  divine  religion 
be  upheld  in  its  fullness,  for  it  is  that  religion  alone  which  mani- 
fests the  glory  of  the  Godhead,  and  affords  efficacious  remedies  for  all 
the  ills  under  which  humanity  is  suffering.  It  is  the  only  rule  which 
forms  man  to  all  virtues  here  below,  and  leads  him  to  eternal  felicity. 

But  this  opposition  is  denied  by  the  advocates  of  modem  civil- 
ization, who  proclaim  themselves  to  be  the  true  and  sincere  friends 
of  religion.  We  would  fain  believe  them  ; but  the  sad  events  which 
occur  daily  under  the  eyes  of  all  bear  witness  to  the  contrary.  Thero 
is  on  earth  but  one  true  and  holy  religion,  founded  and  established 
by  Christ  himself ; the  fruitful  parent  and  nurse  of  all  virtue,  the 
enemy  of  every  vice,  the  liberator  of  souls,  the  source  of  all  true 
happiness,  and  that  religion  is  called  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and 
Eoman.  ... 

‘‘With  respect  to  such  as  invite  us,  for  the  good  of  religion,  to 
join  hands  with  modern  civilization,  we  ask  them,  whether  it  be  pos- 
sible for  him  whom  Christ  has  instituted  his  vicar  on  earth,  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  his  heavenly  doctrine  in  its  purity,  of  feeding 
and  fortifying  therewith  Christ’s  lambs  and  sheep,  to  ally  himself 
conscientiously  and  without  scandal  to  all  men,  with  that  modern 
civilization  which  begets  such  deplorable  evils,  such  detestable  opin- 
ions, so  many  errors  and  principles  opposed  to  the  Catholic  religion 
and  its  teaching  ? 


I 


382 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Without  recalling  other  facts,  is  it  not,  for  instance,  notorious 
that  the  most  solemn  concordats  validly  concluded  between  the 
Apostolic  See  and  sovereigns  are  completely  set  aside,  as  has  been  re- 
cently done  at  Naples  ? We  here  complain,  and  reclaim,  and  pro- 
test with  all  our  might  against  this  last  act,  as  we  have  already  pro- 
tested against  so  m.any  other  violations  and  outrages  of  the  same 
nature  [committed  by  the  Piedmontese  government. — Author 

This  modern  civilization  professes  on  the  one  hand  to  favor 
every  form  of  worship  not  Catholic,  . . . and,  on  the  other,  it 

denounces  religious  communities,  the  congregations  founded  to  di- 
rect Catholic  schools,  ecclesiastics  of  every  rank,  even  those  who  are 
invested  with  the  highest  dignities,  many  of  whom  are  at  this  mo- 
ment in  exile  or  in  prison,  and  distinguished  laymen,  who,  in  their 
devotion  to  our  person  and  the  Holy  See,  dare  to  defend  the  cause  of 
religion  and  justice. 

^^This  civilization  lavishes  its  assistance  on  non-Catholic  institu- 
tions and  persons,  while  it  strips  the  Catholic  Church  of  her  lawful 
possessions,  and  uses  all  industry  and  zeal  to  undermine  her  salutary 
influence.  It  allows  full  scope  to  the  men  who  by  their  word  and 
their  pen  assail  the  Church  and  her  defenders ; it  inspires,  feeds,  and 
foments  licentiousness,  while  using  an  excessive  reserve  in  repressing 
the  violent  and  odious  attacks  made  on  all  who  publish  good  books, 
and  displays  toward  these  the  utmost  rigor  whenever  they  chance  to 
transgress  in  the  slightest  degree  the  limits  of  moderation. 

^^Is  it  to  such  a civilization  as  this  that  the  Roman  pontiff  could 
ever  extend  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  ? Is  it  with  such  a civil- 
ization that  he  could  contract  any  league  of  alliance  or  amity  ? Let 
us  only  call  things  by  their  proper  names,  and  it  must  appear  evident 
that  the  Holy  See  is  always  consistent  with  itself.  It  has  ever  been 
the  protector  and  support  of  true  civilization.  History  can  show  in 
the  most  convincing  manner  that  at  every  epoch  the  Holy  See  has 
been  the  bearer  of  the  true  principles  of  humanity,  order,  and  wisdom 
to  the  most  distant  and  barbarous  countries. 

But  inasmuch  as  people  will  have  us  understand  by  civilization 
a system  organized  for  the  express  purpose  of  w^eakening  and  eventu- 
ally destroying  the  Church  of  Christ,  it  is  certain  that  neither  the 
Holy  See  nor  the  Roman  pontiff  can  ever  be  reconciled  to  such  a 
civilization.  . . . 

^^With  w^hat  degree  of  good  faith  can  the  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace  and  the  abettors  of  revolution  lift  up  their  voices  to  proclaim 


Persecution  of  the  Church, 


3S3 


that  they  have  in  vain  endeayored  to  he  reconciled  with  the  Eoman 
pontiff  ? He  deriyes  all  his  power  from  the  principles  of  eyerlasting 
righteousness  ; how  could  he  eyer  forsake  them  to  weaken  the  cause 
of  our  holy  faith,  and  to  expose  Italy  thereby  to  lose,  together  with 
her  peculiar  glory  of  nineteen  centuries,  the  privilege  of  being  the 
center  and  seat  of  Catholic  truth  ? 

"'Nor  can  it  he  said  truthfully  that,  so  far  as  the  temporal  power 
is  concerned,  the  Holy  See  has  been  deaf  to  those  who  asked  for  a 
more  liberal  administration.  , . . 

"In  more  recent  times,  as  you  are  aware,  when  we  were  tendered 
advice  about  our  temporal  government,  we  were  not  slow  to  profit 
by  it ; rejecting,  however,  what  had  no  regard  to  the  civil  adminis- 
tration, and  what  tended  to  obtain  our  assent  to  the  spoliations 
already  accomplished.  But  it  is  idle  to  speak  of  advice  accepted 
favorably  and  of  promises  sincerely  given  by  us  to  execute  them, 
when  it  is  notorious,  that  those  who  direct  these  usurpations  openly 
say,  that  what  they  want  is  not  reform  but  revolution,  and  a com- 
plete separation  from  the  lawful  sovereign.  Those  who  filled  the 
world  with  their  outcries  were  not  our  own  people,  but  the  very 
authors  and  counselors  of  these  criminal  assaults.  . . . 

" The  war  made  on  the  Eoman  pontiff  aims  not  only  at  depriving 
him  and  the  Holy  See  of  their  civil  power,  but  at  lowering,  weaken- 
ing, and,  if  possible,  destroying  utterly  the  salutary  energy  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  . . . 

" How  many  dioceses  in  Italy  are  left  without  bishops,  because  these 
are  not  permitted  to  govern  lawfully,  while  these  advocates  of  modern 
civilization  rejoice  that  Christian  populations  are  deprived  of  their 
guides,  usurp  their  possessions  and  employ  them  to  the  very  worst 
purposes  ! How  many  bishops  are  at  this  moment  in  exile  ? How 
many — we  say  it  in  the  bitterness  of  our  soul — how  many  apostates, 
are  now  preaching  not  in  the  name  of  God,  but  in  that  of  Satan, 
trusting  to  the  impunity  allowed  them  by  a fatal  policy  to  disturb  con- 
sciences, to  urge  the  weak  to  prevaricate  and  confirm  the  fallen  in  their 
unblushing  profession  of  error,  endeavoring  to  rend  asunder  the  seam- 
less robe  of  Christ,  and  proposing  to  establish  a national  church.  . . 

"Now,  after  having  thus  outraged  the  religion  they  invite  hypo- 
critically to  become  reconciled  with  the  civilization  in  vogue,  they 
presume  to  ask  us  with  a like  hypocrisy  to  become  reconciled  with 
Italy.  That  is  to  say,  at  the  very  time  when  almost  totally  stripped 
of  our  temporalities,  we  have  to  meet  the  heavy  charges  incumbent 


384 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


on  the  prince  and  the  pontiff  through  the  alms  sent  us  hy  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Catholic  Church ; at  the  very  moment  when  we  are 
made,  without  motive,  a target  for  envy  and  hatred,  by  the  very  men 
who  counsel  this  kind  of  reconciliation,  they  would  have  us  also  de- 
clare openly  that  we  give  up  to  the  usurpers,  as  their  freehold  i^ro- 
perty,  the  provinces  wrested  from  the  Pontifical  States ! 

This  daring  and  unheard-of  proposition  simply  means  that  the 
Apostolic  See,  which  has  always  been,  and  shall  ever  continue  to  be, 
the  bulwark  of  truth  and  justice,  ought  to  sanction  this  principle, 
that  a thing  taken  perforce  from  its  owner  may  be  peacefully  retained 
by  the  unjust  aggressor ; it  means  also  a sanction  of  this  erroneous 
maxim  that  a triumphant  wrong  is  not  an  infraction  of  the  sacred- 
ness of  right.  But  this  proposition  is  repugnant  to  the  words  so 
solemnly  uttered  of  late  in  an  illustrious  senate  chamber : ^ The 
Roman  pontiff  is  the  representative  of  the  highest  moral  power  in 
human  society.’  Hence  it  follows  that  the  pontiff  can  in  nowise 
consent  to  the  spoliation  wrought  by  these  Vandals,  without  shaking 
to  its  foundations  the  moral  law  of  which  he  is  acknowledged  to  be 
the  form  and  the  image. 

Whoever,  led  by  fear  or  by  error,  would  be  disposed  to  counsel 
the  disturbers  of  civil  society  in  conformity  with  their  desires,  ought 
to  be  firmly  convinced — especially  in  our  day — that  nothing  short  of 
the  total  destruction  of  the  principle  of  authority,  oi  all  religious 
restraint,  of  all  rule  of  right  and  justice,  can  satisfy  these  men. 
And — unfortunately  for  civil  society — these  disturbers  have  suc- 
ceeded by  their  speeches  and  writings  in  perverting  the  conscience  of 
mankind,  in  blunting  men’s  moral  sense,  and  diminishing  their  in- 
born horror  of  iniquity.  They  do  their  utmost  to  persuade  the  world 
that  the  rights  claimed  by  honest  folk  are  but  an  unrighteous  pre- 
tension which  must  be  set  aside. 

^‘In  the  midst  of  this  growing  darkness  ...  we  place  our 
trust  in  the  most  clement  Father  of  mercies.  . . . He  it  is 

who  sheds  on  Catholic  nations  the  spirit  of  prayer,  and  who  in- 
spires non-Catholic  peoples  with  that  righteous  sense  which  enables 
them  to  pronounce  an  equitable  judgment  on  these  events.  This 
wonderful  union  of  prayer?  throughout  the  Catholic  world,  these 
unanimous  manifestations  of  love  toward  us,  expressed  in  so  many 
different  ways,  are  such  as  to  have  no  parallel  in  the  past,  and  are 
an  evidence  for  the  right-minded  of  the  necessity  of  being  in  union 
with  this  chair  of  the  blessed  Peter.  . . . 


A New  Diplomatic  Campaign, 


385 


Wherefore,  while  our  soul  is  oppressed  with  grief,  and  we  lift 
our  hands  in  supplication  to  God  on  high,  wo  are  only  fulfilling  the 
duty  of  our  supreme  apostleship  by  speaking  out,  by  teaching,  and 
by  combating  whatsoever  God  and  his  Church  teach  and  combat, 
in  order  that  ‘ we  may  consummate  our  course  and  the  ministry  of 
the  word  which  we  received  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  to  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.’  ” 

Napoleon,  who  had  hypocritically  suspended  open  diplomatic  inter- 
course with  the  court  of  Turin,  continued  to  negotiate  secretly  with 
Cavour,  through  Prince  Napoleon  Jerome,  the  question  of  Eome  and 
what  remained  of  the  temporal  power.  He  was  prepared  to  withdraw 
his  troops  from  that  city  and  what  remained  of  the  papal  territory, 
binding  Piedmont  to  respect  the  sovereignty  and  the  independence  of 
the  Holy  See,  alloAving  the  Pope  to  recruit  an  army  which  should  only 
serve  for  defensive  purposes.  On  these  conditions  the  emperor  was 
ready  to  acknowledge  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy.  Of  course  Cavour 
and  Prince  Napoleon  and  the  emperor  himself  all  perfectly  under- 
stood that  this  meant  giving  up  the  Holy  Father  to  the  will  of  his 
enemies. 

To  prepare  public  opinion  in  France  and  Europe  for  this  culmina- 
tion in  the  Cavour-Bonaparte  policy,  a new  pamphlet,  entitled  La 
France,  Rome,  et  Vltalie,  signed  this  time  by  Arthur  de  la  Gueron- 
niere,  appeared  on  the  7th  day  of  March.  Its  real  authorship  was 
a secret  to  no  one.  The  Pope’s  magnificent  allocution  was  an  indi- 
rect reply  to  this  new  declaration  of  war,  this  plan  of  a final  intel- 
lectual campaign  in  which  the  temporal  sovereignty  was  to  win  or 
lose  forever  in  the  public  opinion  of  Christendom. 

This  drew  from  Cardinal  Antonelli  a letter  to  the  papal  minister 
in  Paris,  which  is  perhaps  the  most  admirable  document  ever  signed 
by  the  great  secretary.  ^^TJie  chief  purpose  of  this  production  (the 
pamphlet)  is  to  throw  on  the  Holy  Father  and  on  his  government 
the  responsibility  of  the  condition  to  which  Italy,  and  the  Pontifical 
States  in  particular,  have  been  reduced.”  With  a lucidity,  a logic,  a 
subdued  eloquence  beyond  all  praise^  the  writer  attacks,  one  after  the 
other,  every  position  assumed  by  the  pamphleteer,  and  exposes  tri- 
umphantly the  treachery,  the  baseness,  the  duplicity  of  the  chief 
adversaries  of  the  Holy  See  in  this  long  battle  with  Piedmontism 
abetted  by  Louis  Napoleon. 

One  point  made  by  the  writer  must  not  be  omitted  here,  as  it 
serves  to  throw  further  light  on  the  bad  faith  which  marked  through- 


386 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


out  the  proceedings  of  Cavour  and  his  imperial  ally.  The  author 
of  the  pamphlet  accused  the  Pope  bitterly  of  having  rejected  the 
plan  of  an  Italian  confederacy  in  1859,  when  proposed  by  the  Em- 
peror Xapoleon. 

‘‘The  official  proposition  of  such  a confederacy,”  writes  the  car- 
dinal, “and  of  its  presidency,  came  only  after  the  preliminaries  of 
Villafranca  and  of  the  treaty  of  Zurich,  and  the  Holy  Father  showed 
himself  disposed  to  accept  it,  as  soon  as  its  basis  had  been  defined. 
The  author,  nevertheless,  says  that  it  was  then  too  late ; he  does  not, 
in  saying  so,  seem  to  perceive  that  he  seriously  insults  his  own  sov- 
ereign, as  if  he  and  the  other  powers  had  proposed,  as  the  basis  of  a 
solemn  treaty  and  the  great  means  of  conciliation,  a thing  which 
was  at  that  moment  neither  possible  nor  opportune.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  it  was  only  then  that  the  proposition  was  made  by  the  person 
authorized  to  do  so  ; and  it  is  unjust  to  pretend  that  his  Holiness  had 
taken  any  action  thereon  before  it  was  laid  before  him.  Since,  there- 
fore, the  thing  fell  through  independently  of  his  refusal,  how  can  he, 
without  a positive  act  of  calumny,  be  accused  of  obstinacy  on  this 
point  ? ” 

“Let  us,”  the  cardinal  says  elsewhere,  “ reduce  to  their  simplest 
terms  all  these  heads  of  accusation.  Putting  aside  the  unfounded 
assertions,  the  manifest  calumnies,  the  matters  foreign  to  the  case, 
which  helped  to  fill  up  the  pamphlet,  the  obstinacy  which  it  imputes 
to  the  Holy  Father  amounts  to  his  having  declined  an  abdication 
which  his  conscience  condemned,  to  his  having  deferred  some  reforms 
promised  till  the  revolted  provinces  had  returned  to  their  allegiance  ; 
to  his  having  proposed  to  recruit  an  army  for  himself,  instead  of  ac- 
cepting the  troops  offered  to  him  ; to  his  having  preferred  the  volun- 
tary offerings  of  the  faithful  to  subsidies  furnished  by  governments 
who  are  not  all  nor  always  equally  disposed  to  be  friendly.  And 
these  acts  of  firmness,  of  noble  disinterestedness,  which  must  appear 
most  praiseworthy  to  the  unprejudiced  mind,  which  have  appeared 
and  do  still  appear  worthy  of  the  admiration  of  Protestants,  seem  on 
the  other  hand  to  the  Catholic  author  of  the  pamphlet  to  be  so 
blameworthy,  that  he  could  not  find  more  bitter  words  of  censure 
were  he  to  write  against  those  who  are  alone  responsible  for  the  sad 
disorders  of  the  present  time. 

“ But  this  is  precisely  what  is  of  a nature  to  surprise  us.  The  im- 
perial government  of  France  had  given  advice  to  his  Holiness  ; it  had 
also  given  advice  to  the  Piedmontese  government.  Now  if  the  Holy 


Dia  Napoleon  make  a Friend  of  Italy?  387 


Father  must  be  accused  of  not  having  followed  such  advice,  the 
Piedmontese  government  does  not  appear  to  have  been  more  docile. 

. . . His  Holiness  did  not  deem  it  expedient  to  do  some  things 

desired  by  the  French  government ; but  Piedmont  did  a great  many 
things  which  the  French  government  had  publicly  declared  it  was 
opposed  to.  The  imperial  government  forbade  the  violation  of  the 
neutrality  of  the  Pontifical  States ; and  to  this  the  Piedmontese  gov- 
ernment responded  by  occupying  the  Eomagna.  The  imperial  gov- 
ernment disapproved  annexation ; and  the  Piedmontese  government 
only  answered  by  accomplishing  annexation.  The  imperial  govern- 
ment forbade,  in  threatening  language,  the  invasion  of  the  Marches 
and  Umbria;  and  the  Piedmontese  government  responded  by  pour- 
ing grapeshot  into  the  little  pontifical  army,  by  bombarding  Ancona 
from  sea  and  land,  and  by  refusing  to  observe  any  of  the  laws  of  war 
acknowledged  by  all  civilized  nations.  . . . 

^^The  author  of  the  pamphlet  allows  his  pen  the  cruelest  license 
against  the  Holy  See,  but  has  not  one  single  word  of  blame  for  the 
Piedmontese  government ! . . . Who  can  explain  such  an  attitude  ? 

The  explanation  is  a very  natural  one,  and  is  given  on  the  last 
page,  where  the  author  tells  us  that  the  emperor  of  the  French  can- 
not sacrifice  Italy  to  the  court  of  Rome  nor  give  up  the  papacy  to  the 
revolution  ; which  means  that  the  court  of  Kome  must  be  sacrificed 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  Peninsula,  that  the  temporal  dominion  of 
the  Holy  See  must  be  done  away  with,  because  it  is  in  the  way  of  the 
unification  of  Italy,  and  that  this  suppression  is  to  prevent  the 
papacy  or  the  spiritual  power  from  falling  beneath  the  blows  of  the 
revolution.” 

Eventually  the  court  of  Rome  was  sacrificed  to  Italian  unity,  and 
the  papacy,  or  so  much  of  it  as  can  be  subject  to  the  despotism  of 
human  masters,  was  given  up  to  the  revolution  impersonated  by 
Piedmont. 

The  emperor  who  thus  sacrificed  conscience,  right,  justice,  the 
most  venerable  institutions  the  world  had  ever  seen,  to  Italy,  thought 
that  he  was  creating  for  France  a powerful  friend  at  her  very 
gates,  and  for  himself  and  his  dynasty  a grateful  and  steadfast 
friend  in  the  day  of  need.  The  day  of  need  came  sooner  than  either 
Napoleon  or  Victor  Emmanuel  fancied,  but  the  emperor  found  nei- 
ther ally  nor  friendship  nor  gratitude  ; while  France  knows,  to  her 
bitter  cost,  that  to  heap  benefits  on  ignoble  natures  is  to  make  for 
one’s  self  the  worst  of  enemies. 


388 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


MVq  liare  not  the  heart  to  pursue  further  the  revolutionary  career 
of  Piedmont.  We  shall  see  the  iniquity  consummated  in  its  time. 
The  first  ‘‘Italian”  parliament  met  in  Turin  in  February;  Victor 
Emmanuel  was  proclaimed  king  of  Italy  on  March  the  14th.  The 
“kingdom  of  Italy”  was  recognized  by  Great  Britain  on  the  31st 
day  of  that  month,  and  by  France  on  the  21th  of  June.  But  Cavour 
did  not  live  to  have  that  satisfaction  ; he  died  on  the  6th  of  June. 

“To  the  end  he  remained  what  he  was,  what  he  had  wished  to 
be.  lie  had  given  instructions  that  at  the  proper  time  they  should 
call  in  the  rector  of  the  Madonna  degli  Angeli  (‘Our  Lady  of 
Angels  ’),  Friar  Giacomo,  with  whom  he  had  made  a compact  some 
seven  years  before  about  such  an  eventuality,  and,  faithful  to  his 
agreement,  the  friar  came.  . . . Cavour  remained  alone  with  the 
priest  for  half  an  hour,  and  when  the  latter  was  gone  he  called  Fa- 
rini  and  said  : ‘ My  niece  has  had  Fra  Giacomo  to  come  to  me  ; I 
must  prepare  myself  for  the  dread  passage  to  eternity ; I have  made 
my  confession  and  have  received  absolution.  I wish  all  to  know, 
I want  the  good*  people  of  Turin  to  know  that  I die  like  a good 
Christian.  I am  at  peace  with  myself.  I have  never  wronged'  any 
one.  . . One  of  the  last  words  of  Cavour  was  addressed  to  Fra 

Giacomo,  who  was  reciting  by  the  bedside  the  prayers  for  the  de- 
parting soul : ‘ Frate,  Frate,^  said  he  in  pressing  the  other’s  hand, 
^ liber 0 cliiesa  in  liber o statoP^  * 

On  that  death-bed  repentance,  the  peace  of  that  soul  with  itself, 
when  th(?  tremendous  judgment  was  so  nigh,  and  the  boast  of  the 
dying  persecutor  of  God’s  Church  and  her  pontilf  that  he  had 
“never  wronged  any  one,” — on  that  statesman’s  career  of  rapine, 
duplicity,  blood,  and  sacrilege,  which  ended  early  on  that  morning  in 
June,  with  the  triumphant  boast  that  he  had  left  “ a free  church  in 
a free  State,” — the  All-Knowing  and  All-Righteous  has  pronounced 
his  adorable  sentence. 

Let  him  disappear  from  these  pages.  To  the  august  parent  who 
would  have  been  so  happy  to  send  to  that  chamber  of  death  sweet 
words  of  love  and  forgiveness,  Cavour  did  not  send  one  single  word 
of  regret.  Pius  IX.  was  destined  to  look  down  on  the  death  of  many 
more  of  the  leaders  in  wrong-doing  before  his  aged  eyes  might  close 
to  a world  so  full  for  him  of  the  bitter  agony  of  the  cross,  not  un- 
raixed,  however,  with  its  blissful  consciousness  of  triumph. 


* Revue  des  Deux  Mondes,  Janvier,  1877,  p.  203. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


Guizot  ok  the  Social  State  of  Eukope  akd  the  Italiak  Policy 
—The  Pope  is  ikvited  to  Abdicate  his  Tempokal  Soyek- 
EIGKTT — PeRSECUTIOKS  IK  THE  KiKGDOH  OF  ITALY — Ik  XeW 

Grekada  akd  Mexico — The  Great  Cakokizatiok  of  Juke, 
1862 — The  Pope’s  Address  to  the  Bishops — Solemk  Cok- 
DEMKATIOK  OF  MODERK  ERRORS — ThE  ItALIAK  PaRLIAMEKT 
COKSIDERS  THE  ASSEMBLAGE  A POLITICAL  OkE — ThE  ‘‘SyLLA- 
. BUS  OF  Errors  ” — What  it  Meaks — Misappreheksioks  akd 
Misrepresektatioks. 


1862-1865. 

IN  this  same  year,  1861,  a man  who  had  gained  by  the  superiority 
of  his  genius  and  the  elevation  of  his  character  the  very  first  rank 
among  European  publicists,  the  illustrious  Guizot,  published  a'hook 
entitled  ^‘The  Church  and  Christian  Society  in  1861.”  Placed  at 
the  head  of  the  Protestant  Church  in  Erance,  his  opinions  on  the 
papacy,  and  the  war  then  waged  so  furiously  against  it,  had  great 
weight  with  persons  of  his  own  communion.  We  have  already  seen 
how  sincerely  he  wished,  while  prime  minister  under  Louis  Philippe, 
to  give  the  most  efficient  aid  to  the  Holy  Eather  in  his  work  of  ad- 
ministrative reform.  It  is  most  interesting  to  hear  his  judgment  on 
the  results  of  the  policy  followed  by  Erance,  England,  and  Pied- 
mont in  forwarding  the  work  of  revolutionism. 

‘^European  societies,”  he  says,  ‘^are  deeply  troubled;  institutions 
and  beliefs,  laws  and  infiuences,  the  State  and  the  relations  of  all  its 
members,  all  things  are  now  called  in  question ; almost  everywhere 
the  ancient  social  structure  is  falling  to  pieces  or  shaken,  and  no  one 
can  see  on  what  solid  foundation  is  to  he  built  the  new  edifice  ; every- 
where confusion,  incoherence,  and  hesitancy  pervade  men’s  minds, 
and  pass  thence  or  threaten  to  pass  into  events ; governments  and 
peoples  are  equally  weary  and  restless  ; the  present  affords  no  secu- 
rity, the  future  holds  forth  no  light ; despite  the  indisputable  ad- 
vance in  enlightment  and  social  knowledge,  we  are  living  in  darkness 

389 


390 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


and  amid  ruins.”  * In  another  passage  the  venerable  author  pro- 
tests against  men  in  power  who  look  with  a complacent  adhesion  or 
a blind  indifference  on  a course  of  policy  alternately  brutal  and  hypo- 
critical, which  compromises  instead  of  promoting  the  good  cause  in 
Italy,  and  throws  Christian  society  into  grief  and  perturbation,  the 
certain  prelude  of  an  anarchy  which  would  at  one  time  rule  supreme 
and  at  another  be  chained  down  by  some  unforeseen  power.”  f 
No  sooner  had  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy  been  recognized  by 
France  than  Baron  Ricasoli,  who  had  become  prime  minister,  wrote 
in  the  king’s  name  both  to  Cardinal  Antonelli  and  the  Pope,  urging 
them  to  give  up  the  sovereignty  of  Rome  and  thereby  enable  him  to 
perfect  the  ideal  design  of  his  predecessor,  by  allowing  the  Church 
to  be  free  in  the  new  Italian  free  State.  The  letter  to  the  Holy 
Father  ended  with  the  following  appeal : 

It  is  in  your  power.  Holy  Father,  to  renew  once  more  the  face  of 
the  earth  ; you  can  raise  the  Apostolic  See  to  a height  unknown  for 
ages. 

If  you  wish  to  be  greater  than  earthly  sovereigns,  cast  away  from 
you  this  wretched  kingship  which  brings  you  down  to  their  level. 
Italy  shall  bestow  upon  you  a firm  seat,  an  entire -liberty,  a new 
greatness.  She  reveres  in  you  the  pontiff,  but  she  will  not  stop  in 
her  progress  for  the  prince  ; she  intends  to  remain  Catholic,  but  she 
pui-poses  to  be  a free  and  independent  nation.  If  you  but  hearken 
to  the  prayers  of  that  daughter  so  singularly  loved  of  you,  you 
shall  gain  over  souls  more  power  than  you  can  lose  as  a prince,  and 
from  the  Vatican,  as  you  lift  your  hand  to  bless  Rome  and  the  world, 
you  shall  behold  the  nations  restored  to  their  rights  bow  down  be- 
fore you,  their  defender  and  protector.” 

Unfortunately  for  Ricasoli  and  his  promises,  the  persecution 
against  bishops  and  priests,  and  the  atrocious  policy  of  assassination 
organized  against  loyal  and  faithful  laymen,  continued  to  rage  with 
greater  fierceness,  not  only  in  Naples  and  Sicily,  but  wherever  the 
cross  of  Savoy  floated.  Garibaldi  only  consented  to  suspend  his 
intention  of  beginning  an  armed  crusade  against  Rome  by  the 
promises  and  prospects  held  out  to  him  by  the  Piedmontese  ministry 
in  the  name  of  Napoleon  III.,  as  well  as  Victor  Emmanuel,  that  Rome 
should  become  the  capital  of  Italy  with  the  briefest  possible  delay. 

* Guizot,  L’Eglise  et  la  Societe  Chretienne  en  1861,  p.  266. 
t lUd.,  p.  198. 


Persecution  in  Mexico  and  New  Grenada.  391 

But  the  impatient  chief  could  not  brook  these  delays.  Even  then 
his  letters  and  discourses  were  full  of  one  sentiment,  which  he  meant 
to  transform  soon  into  a fact : ‘‘Eome  or  Death!”  ‘‘Do  not  be 
deceived  by  those  whose  interest  is  to  deceive  you.  Among  these  are 
the  priests,  and  especially  the  high-priest  of  Eome  and  his  cardi- 
nals, these  fabricators  and  venders  of  superstition,  these  panders  to 
tyrannical  governments.” 

The  proclamations  and  the  acts  of  Garibaldi  were  the  inevitable 
accompaniment  to  which  the  Piedmontese  ministers  and  Napoleon 
III.’s  secretaries  and  ambassadors  always  sang  their  persuasive  strains 
in  the  pontifical  ear. 

In  the  republics  of  the  western  world,  during  this  time,  lived 
statesmen  trained  in  the  school  of  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi,  and  who 
showed  themselves  apt  scholars  in  the  art  of  setting  up  “a  free  Church 
in  a free  State.”  General  Mosquera  in  New  Grenada,  and  Benito 
Juarez  in  Mexico,  stopped  at  no  halfway  measures  in  their  methods 
of  reconciling  civil  and  religious  liberty.  In  Mexico  the  entire 
property  of  the  Church,  spared  till  then  by  the  violence  of  successive 
revolutions  and  the  greed  of  political  parties,  was  swept  away  into 
the  State  treasury,  and  every  bishop  who  dared  to  resist  or  protest  was 
banished  from  the  country  or  imprisoned.  In  New  Grenada,  the  brutal 
Dictator,  unmindful  of  the  death  in  exile  of  his  own  saintly  brother, 
the  Archbishop  of  Bogota,  pursued  a course  of  relentless  persecution 
toward  the  Church,  and  both  the  regular  and  secular  clergy.  To  these 
manifold  causes  of  grief  and  anxiety  for  the  Holy  Father,  was  added, 
in  the  spring  of  1861,  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war  in  the  United 
States.  For  to  no  portion  of  his  wide  fiock  did  Pius  IX.  ever  look 
with  a deeper  and  more  fatherly  interest  than  to  the  young  churches 
of  the  great  western  republic.  They  were  like  trees  of  his  own  plant- 
ing, he  had  seen  grow  and  put  forth  the  fairest  blossoms,  and,  as  he 
rejoiced  in  the  near  prospective  of  a fruitful  harvest,  lo  I the  whirl- 
wind had  come  ! How  he  prayed  for  peace  during  these  dark  and 
stormy  years,  and  with  what  a tender  sympathy  he  looked  forward 
to  a cessation  of  hostilities  and  to  a renewal  of  the  brotherly  relations 
between  North  and  South,  which  political  passion  had  so  deeply  dis- 
turbed I 

The  last  great  solemnities  of  beatification  in  1850,  had  been  espe- 
cially interesting  for  the  American  Church,  since  the  holy  personages 
who  were  the  subject  of  them — Peter  Claverand  Mariana  de  Paredes 
— were  American  saints.  A similar  celebration  had  been  proposed 


392 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


for  1862,  and  the  great  feast  of  Pentecost,  June  the  8th,  was  chosen 
as  the  day  most  favorable  for  the  purpose. 

On  the  18th  of  January,  Cardinal  Caterini  addressed,  in  thp  name 
of  the  Holy  Father,  an  invitation  to  the  entire  episcopal  body. 

‘^His  Holiness,’’  the  circular  said,  ^^in  conformity  with  the  exam- 
ples set  by  his  predecessors,  would  fain  have  called  together  in  Eome 
the  bishops  of  Italy,  to  obtain  their  deliberate  judgment  in  a matter 
of  such  great  importance,  as  well  as  to  add  to  the  solemnity  of 
the  occasion.  But  considering  the  calamities  which  weigh  on  the 
larger  portion  of  Italy,  and  which  do  not  permit  the  shepherds  to 
leave  their  flocks,  he  has  for  once  departed  from  the  received 
custom. 

Wherefore  the  Holy  Father  has  honored  me  with  his  commands 
to  invite  to  this  celebration  not  only  the  bishops  of  Italy,  hut  those 
of  the  whole  world,  with  the  assurance  that  it  would  afford  him  a 
very  great  satisfaction  to  see  all  who  can  come  at  the  consistory  (in 
the  month  of  May)  as  well  as  at  the  canonization.” 

As  a preliminary  step  a secret  consistory  was  held,  in  which  his 
Holiness  expressed  the  wish  to  add  to  the  catalogue  of  canonized 
saints  the  names  of  three  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and 
twenty-three  members  of  the  Order  of  St.  Francis  who  had  been 
cruelly  crucifled  in  Japan  in  1622. 

The  heroic  sufferings  of  the  sovereign  pontiff,  the  spoliations  of 
which  he  had  been  the  victim,  the  open  threats  of  Garibaldi  and 
Young  Italy  to  have  Eome  before  another  year  had  passed,  and  the 
treacherous  policy,  more  than  ever  openly  avowed  in  the  senate 
chamber  by  the  French  ministers  and  Prince  Yapoleon,  made  Eome 
the  goal  of  Catholic  hearts,  and  the  Holy  Father  an  object  of  per- 
sonal devotion  to  every  son  and  daughter  of  the  Church  in  every 
land.  ■ 

Magniflcent  as  had  been  the  spectacle  presented  by  the  capital  of 
the  Christian  world  in  December,  1854,  it  was  far  surpassed  by  the 
solemnities  of  June,  1862.  The  official  annoyances,  the  jeers  and 
insults  to  which  bishops,  priests,  and  laymen  were  subjected  at  the 
frontiers  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy,  and  on  their  way  to  Eome, 
were  a not  very  pleasant  foretaste  of  the  higher  and  larger  freedom 
promised  to  the  sovereign  pontiff  and  the  Church  when  Eome  should 
belong  to  free  Italy. 

On  May  the  22d  was  held  a semi-public  consistory  at  which  twen- 
ty-three cardinals  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-flve  bishops  voted 


Canonization  of  June  the  8th^  1862, 


393 


for  tlie  canonization.  Three  days  afterward  came  a touching  ad- 
dress of  the  Umbrian  bishops  to  the  Pope,  in  which  they  declared 
their  adhesion  to  every  act  performed  by  their  brethren  and  their 
chief.  There  was  a multitude  of  priests  in  Eome  come  to  testify 
their  veneration  to  the  persecuted  Pope,  much  more  than  to  gratify 
their  pious  curiosity.  The  Holy  Father  called  them  all  together  in 
the  Sixtine  chapel  on  June  the  6th,  and  made  to  them  one  of  those 
simple  and  heartfelt  discourses,  every  word  of  which  goes  straight  to 
the  soul  of  each  hearer  like  the  well-sped  arrow  to  its  mark.  ' 

^‘On  seeing  you  here  we  not  only  feel  the  burden  of  our  grief 
lightened,  but  we  almost  forget  it.  This  is  due  to  him  who  is  the 
sole  author  of  peace  and  concord,  who  makes  his  Church  ^care- 
ful to  keep  the  unity  of  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,’  in  order  that  all 
the  faithful  may  form  but  ^ one  body  and  one  spirit.’  This  unity  con- 
stitutes the  honor  of  the  Church,  the  glory  of  her  members,  and  an 
object  of  fear  for  their  enemies ; for  in  this  unity  she  appears  to  them 
like  an  army  in  battle  array.  . . . Eemain  bound  to  this  Aposto- 

lic See,  the  center  of  unity,  by  the  threefold  tie  of  prayer  and  charity 
and  doctrine.  Prayer  pierces  the  heavens  and  obtains  the  possession 
of  all  good  and  the  deliverance  from  all  evil ; charity  makes  us  grow 
in  all  things  in  him  who  is  our  head,  Christ  J esus ; and  doctrine 
enables  us  to  keep  entire  the  deposit  of  faith.  . . . We  are  in 

stormy  times,  and  the  chair  of  Peter  is  bitterly  assailed.  But  it  is 
so  firmly  seated  that  heretical  wickedness  can  never  taint  it,  nor  hea- 
thenish misbelief  undermine  it.  All  the  daring  assaults  of  incredu- 
lity and  impiety  shall  be  dashed  to  spray  upon  this  rock  and  vanish 
like  dreams  of  the  past. 

When  you  go  back  to  your  homes  teach  this  truth  to  your  flocks. 
You  have  drunk  here  at  the  well-spring  of  unity  ; tell  them  that  the 
stream  cut  ofl  from  its  source  must  fail  and  run  dry ; that  all  who 
fight  the  good  fight  shall  be  crowned  ; and  that  in  our  day  all  must 
hold  fast  to  the  unity  of  the  Church  and  uphold  it.” 

On  the  8th  came  the  splendid  ceremonial  of  the  canonization.  It 
was  no  idle  or  empty  pomp,  this  supreme  honor  rendered  to  twenty- 
six  noble  confessors  of  Christ,  who,  at  Nagasaki,  upwards  of  two  cen- 
turies before,  had  sealed  their  witness  with  their  blood,  the  heroic 
children  in  the  faith  of  that  divine  man,  Francis  Xavier,  who  first 
brought  the  name  of  Christ  to  a land  where  torrents  of  blood  and 
ages  of  persecution  have  not  been  able  to  extinguish  the  flame  kin- 
dled by  its  apostle.  It  was,  also,  the  anniversary  of  the  day  when 


394 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX. 


the  divine  Spirit  came  down  on  the  apostles  and  disciples  in  the  up- 
per chamber  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  little  band  went  forth  to  conquer 
a world  to  Christ.  He  who  presided  over  the  august  assemblage 
hoped,  and  not  in  vain,  that  the  hearts  and  tongues  of  all  who  were 
there  would  be  touched  with  the  heavenly  fire. 

On  the  next  day,  the  9 th,  there  was  a public  consistory,  at  which 
an  address  signed  by  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  bishops  was  read  to 
the  Holy  Father  by  Cardinal  Mattel,*  the  dean  of  the  sacred  college. 
Among  these  were  fifty-five  French  bishops,  whose  presence  there 
was  a mute  protest  against  the  policy  of  their  government  and  the 
impious  teachings  of  the  Voltairian  press. 

The  Holy  Father  had  signified  his  wish  that,  in  the  present  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Holy  See,  the  assembled  prelates  should  give  him 
their  opinion  as  to  the  necessity  of  the  temporal  sovereignty  for  the 
perfect  independence  of  the  head  of  the  universal  Church.  The  an- 
swer was  most  unanimous  and  explicit,  greatly  comforting  the  pontiff, 
beset  as  he  was  by  the  importunities  of  France  and  alarmed  by  the 
undisguised  resolution  of  the  Piedmontese.  The  words  of  the  ad- 
dress were  not  less  cheering  when  the  bishops  spoke  of  his  supreme 
doctrinal  authority.  Long  may  you  live.  Holy  Father,’^  they  said, 
^‘to  rule  the  Catholic  Church  ! Proceed,  as  you  do  now,  to  defend 
it  with  your  power,  to  guide  it  with  your  prudence,  to  adorn  it  with 
your  virtues.  Go  before  us,  as  the  good  shepherd,  by  your  example  ; 
feed  the  sheep  and  the  lambs  with  food  from  heaven  ; refresh  them 
with  the  waters  of  supernal  wisdom.  You  are  the  teacher  of  sound 
doctrine,  the  center  of  unity,  the  unfailing  light  kindled  for  all 
peoples  by  the  divine  wisdom.  You  are  the  Eock,  the  foundation 
of  the  Church  against  which  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail. 
When  you  speak,  we  hear  Peter’s  voice ; when  you  decide,  we  obey 
the  authority  of  Christ.” 

The  answer  of  the  sovereign  pontiff  is  contained  in  the  allocution 
Maxima  quidem  Imtitia,  the  first  half  of  which  resumes  all  the  doc- 
trinal decisions  and  dogmatic  teaching  of  his  pontificate  up  to  that 
date.  It  is  of  special  interest  and  importance,  because  it  is  a solemn 
authoritative  condemnation  of  the  socialism,  rationalism,  and  mate- 
rialism of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  syllabus  or  catalogue  of  errone- 
ous propositions  afterward  sent  by  the  Cardinal  Secretary  of  State  to 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  the  entire  Church  being  chiefly  taken 
from  this  great  public  utterance  of  the  chief  pastor  in  presence  of 
nearly  three  hundred  bishops. 


Condemnation  of  Modern  Errors.  395 

'i’his  memorable  discourse  or  allocution  is  thus  a sort  of  prepara- 
tion for  tbe  complete  body  of  doctrine  which  it  was  the  purpose  of 
the  council  of  the  Vatican  to  draw  up  and  promulgate  once  for  all. 

It  may  be  as  well,  therefore,  to  give  the  reader  a satisfactory  idea 
of  what  that  famous  Syllabus  is,  since  its  scope  and  the  doctrines 
which  it  proscribes,  as  well  as  those  which  it  teaches  hy  implication, 
have  been  so  sadly  misunderstood  and  so  shamefully  misrepresented 
by  men  as  eminent  as  Gladstone. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  account  given  in  the  preceding  chapter  of 
the  allocution  Jamdudum  cernimus,  what  concei^tion  the  revolu- 
tionists of  Italy  and  all  who  share  their  naturalism  have  of  prog- 
ress’’  and  modern  civilization,’’  how  indignantly  the  supreme 
pastor  rejects  the  hideous  shams  these  men  would  have  him  accept 
for  true  progress  and  the  true  civilization  so  glorified  by  the  Church. 
We  shall  find  presently  these  monstrous  misconceptions  again  pil- 
loried in  the  Syllabus.  Let  us  now  glance  at  the  noble  and  preg- 
nant lesson  given  by  Pius  IX.  in  that  great  assemblage  of  bishops. 

We  felt  our  soul  penetrated  with  a deep  joy,  when,  yesterday,  it 
was  given  us  to  hestow  the  honors  due  to  saints  on  twenty-seven 
heroes  of  our  holy  faith,  and  to  hehold  you  all  by  our  side,  you  who, 
eminent  for  your  piety  and  many  other  virtues,  and  associated  with 
our  solicitude  in  these  calamitous  times,  fight  so  bravely  for  the 
house  of  Israel,  and  are  for  us  a supreme  joy  and  stay.  Would  to 
God  that  no  cause  of  sadness  and  grief  from  the  outside  world  might 
come  to  temper  this  overflowing  joy  ! But  how  is  it  possible  not 
to  feel  overburdened  with  sorrow  and  anxiety  when  one  sees  both 
the  Church  and  civil  society  given  over  as  a prey  to  every  species  of 
evil,  to  the  immense  detriment  of  men’s  souls  ! 

^^You  are  not  ignorant  of  the  implacable  war  declared  against 
everything  Catholic  by  men  who  conspire  together  to  misrepresent 
what  they  do  not  know,  to  undermine  the  foundations  of  our  holy 
religion  and  of  all  civil  society,  ...  to  pervert  minds  and 
hearts  by  filling  them  with  pernicious  errors  and  thereby  choking  up 
in  them  all  the  seeds  of  Catholic  doctrine.  They  never  tire  in  bring- 
ing to  light  the  most  monstrous  aberrations  of  past  ages,  again  and 
again  exposed  and  refuted  by  the  most  judicious  ecclesiastical  wint- 
ers, and  condemned  by  the  solemn  judgment  of  the  Church.  To 
make  them  more  attractive  to  the  popular  eye  they  clothe  them  with 
a new  form,  deck  them  with  fresh  graces  of  expression,  and  then 
spread  them  everywhere  with  untiring  industry. 


396 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Thereby  all  the  sciences  are  tainted  and  perverted,  and  made  the 
vehicles  of  a deadly  intellectual  poison,  and  stimulants  to  unrestrain- 
ed licentiousness  and  the  most  criminal  passions.  Thus  the  entire 
social  and  religious  orders  are  upset,  the  notions  of  justice,  truth, 
right,  honor,  and  religion  are  weakened  and  obliterated,  and  the 
teachings  and  commandments  of  Christ  are  derided  and  scoffed  at. 

You  cannot  but  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  these  men  perempto- 
rily deny  the  union  which  God  has  been  pleased  to  establish  between 
the  natural  and  supernatural  orders  ; that  they  alter,  corrupt,  and 
destroy  the  proper,  true,  and  lawful  character  of  divine  revelation,  as 
well  as  the  authority,  constitution,  and  power  of  the  Church. 

Their  intellectual  temerity  impels  them  to  deny  boldly  every 
truth  and  law  and  power  and  right  which  derives  from  God ; they 
blush  not  even  to  affirm  that  the  scientific  knowledge  of  philosophy 
and  morals,  as  well  as  the  laws  of  civil  society,  should  be  entirely 
withdrawn  from  any  connection  with  divine  revelation  and  from  the 
control  of  Church  authority.  They  maintain  that  the  Church  is  not 
a society  truly  so-called  and  perfect,  or  gifted  with  full  freedom ; 
that  she  cannot  claim  to  rest  on  the  peculiar  and  permanent  rights 
with  which  she  was  invested  by  her  divine  founder ; but  that  it  be- 
longs to  the  civil  powet  to  define  and  declare  what  are  the  rights  of 
the  Church  and  within  what  limits  she  can  exercise  them. 

Hence  they  wrongly  conclude  that  the  civil  power  may  take  cog- 
• nizance  of  what  purely  concerns  religion,  morality,  and  the  spiritual 
government  of  souls,  and  even  prevent  bishops  and  their  faithful 
people  from  holding  a free  intercourse  with  the  Koman  pontiff,  who 
has  been  divinely  established  as  the  supreme  pastor  of  the  whole 
Church.  . . . They  even  presume  to  proclaim  openly  before  the 

masses  that  the  Roman  pontiff  and  the  ministers  of  the  Church 
should  be  excluded  from  all  temporal  rights  and  power.’’ 

Then  follows  an  enumeration  of  various  errors  directly  opposed  to 
the  necessity  of  revelation,  to  the  divine  origin  and  veracity  of  the 
books  of  the  Bible,  to  the  very  existence  of  Christ  himself,  or  of  the 
divine  law ; and  to  the  providential  government  of  God.  Human 
reason  is  supreme  and  all  sufficient ; and  man  has  a primordial  right 
to  dispose  freely  of  his  faculties  and  himself.  Thus  by  degrees 
rationalism  and  naturalism  come  to  the  negation  of  God  himself, 
and  to  the  affirmation  of  a gross  pantheism  and  materialism. 

The  second  part  treats  of  the  specific  assaults  committed  '‘on  the 
Church  and  civil  society.”  The  Holy  Father  points  with  expressions 


The  Italiaii  Parliame^it  Protests. 


397 


of  deep  sorrow  to  the  absence  of  tbe  bishops  of  Italy  who  were  forbid- 
den to  appear  at  tbe  solemnities,  as  well  as  of  tbe  Portuguese  bish- 
ops. Then  there  is  a grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  unanimity 
with  which  the  entire  Catholic  hierarchy  has  sustained  the  pontiff  in 
his  troubles,  of  their  admirable  zeal  'in  unyailing  the  perfidious  de- 
signs of  the  enemies  of  the  Holy  See. 

‘^The  sad  subjects  we  have  just  exposed  to  you,”  the  Holy  Father 
continues,  ‘^afford  a grievous  spectacle.  We  cannot  but  he  daily 
impressed  with  the  conviction  that  all  these  impious  doctrines,  all 
these  perverse  and  insane  machinations,  corrupt  and  debauch  hourly 
more  and  more  the  Christian  people,  lead  them  farther  on  the  road 
to  ruin,  assail  and  weaken  the  Catholic  Church,  her  venerable  rights 
and  laws,  as  well  as  her  ministers  ; they  propagate  vice  and  crime, 
and  disturb  profoundly  civil  society  itself. 

‘^Wherefore,  attending  solely  to  the  discharge  of  our  apostolic 
office,  . . . we  raise  our  voice  in  this  august  assemblage,  we  re- 

probate, proscribe,  and  condemn  the  errors  above  enumerated  as  con- 
trary and  absolutely  opposed  not  only  to  Catholic  faith  and  doctrine, 
to  divine  and  ecclesiastical  law, 'but  moreover  to  the  natural  and 
eternal  law  and  justice,  and  to  right  reason. 

‘‘As  to  you,  0 venerable  brothers,  who  are  the  salt  of  the  earth, 
the  guardians  and  shepherds  of  Christ’s  flock,  we  exhort  you,  we 
conjure  you  with  increased  earnestness,  ...  to  keep  away  those 
in  your  charge  from  this  poisonous  intellectual  food  ; to  refute  and 
combat  by  word  and  pen  these  monstrous  perversities.  You  know 
how  incomparably  dear  are  the  interests  here  involved,  those  of  our 
holy  faith,  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  her  doctrine,  of  the  salvation 
of  all  peoples,  of  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  human  society.  Where- 
fore, in  so  far  as  you  can,  never  cease  to  warn  your  people  against 
this  dreadful  contagion ; let  them  keep  their  eyes  and  their  hands 
from  bad  books  and  bad  newspapers.  Instruct  them  unceasingly  in 
the  precepts  of  our  holy  religion  ; and  bid  them  avoid  these  teachers 
of  iniquity,  as  they  would  fly  from  the  bite  of  a serpent. 

“ Courage,  venerable  brothers ; amid  all  these  revolutions  and 
consummated  wrongs  let  nothing  shake  your  constancy.  . . . 

We  cannot  help  assuring  you  once  more  how  sweet  is  the  consola- 
tion we  feel  as  we  look  upon  j^ou  all,  you  bound  to  us  and  to  this 
chair  of  Peter  by  the  strong  ties  of  faith  and  reverence  and  filial 
piety,  never  cease,  in  union  with  your  brother  bishops  and  your  faith- 
ful peoples,  to  minister  to  us,  in  our  agony  and  bitterness  of  soul. 


398 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


all  manner  of  relief  and  comfort.  On  this  solemn  occasion  we  de- 
clare with  our  whole  heart  and  strength  how  ardent  are  our  grati- 
tude and  our  love  toward  yourselves  and  your  people.  We  beseech 
you  once  more,  when  you  are  restored  to  your  respective  dioceses,  re- 
peat in  our  name  to  your  flocks  these  sentiments  of  our  heart,  and 
give  them,  with  the  assurance  of  our  fatherly  tenderness,  the  apostolic 
benediction.” 

Beset  and  threatened  as  Pius  IX.  then  was,  and  having  passed 
his  seventieth  year,  who  among  these  bishops  and  priests  and  pil- 
grims, come  to  him  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,  could,  in  all  human 
probability,  ever  hope  to  look  upon  him  again  amid  the  splendors  of 
such  a solemnity  ? And  yet  Pius  IX.  was  reserved  to  many  more 
years  of  arduous  struggles  and  still  more  splendid  triumphs  ! 

Italy  and  the  Christian  world  were  so  moved,  so  deeply  impressed 
by  this  display  of  faith,  of  increased  reverence  and  love  for  the 
despoiled  pontiff,  that  the  Italian  parliament  felt  itself  called  upon 
to  go  in  a body  to  King  Victor  Emmanuel  and  protest  solemnly  in 
the  face  of  all  Europe  against  this  multitude  of  bishops,  nearly  all 
strangers  to  Italy,  who,  assembled  in  Pome  for  a religious  solemnity, 
have  uttered  against  our  country  outrageous  insults,  still  further 
aggravated  by  their  denial  of  our  national  rights  and  by  the  intro- 
duction among  us  of  foreign  violence.”  The  remainder  of  this  phi- 
lippic was  distinguished  by  an  equal  truthfulness  and  like  amenities. 
We  return  to  the  Syllabus, 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1864 — a memorable  anniversary  for  Pius 
IX. — was  issued  the  encyclical  Quanta  cur  a,  in  which  he  renewed 
the  condemnation  pronounced  on  the  errors  proscribed  so  solemnly 
in  the  public  consistory  of  June  9,  1862,  adding  to  them  such  new 
and  monstrous  assertions  as  had  most  startled  Christendom  in  the 
interval,  as  well  as  other  opinions  condemned  by  preceding  pontiffs. 
This  encyclical  also  announced  a jubilee  for  the  ensuing  year  1865. 

^ But  together  with  this  apostolic  letter  was  sent  a catalogue  (or,  in 
Greek,  syllabus)  of  erroneous  propositions  condemned  on  various 
occasions  by  Pius  IX.  In  this  catalogue,  or  list,  the  various  errors 
were  classed  systematically  by  the  Roman  theologians  under  the 
heads  of  ‘‘Pantheism,  Katuralism,  Rationalism,  Socialism,  Com- 
munism,” etc. 

This  “ Syllabus  of  Errors  ” was  communicated  to  the  hierarchy 
in  a brief  note  of  Cardinal  Antonelli.  At  first  this  condemnation 
produced  no  sensation  or  excitement  save  in  Paris  and  Turin,  where 


Misrepresentations  of  the  Syllables . 


399 


many  of  the  most  remarkable  propositions  censured  in  the  encycli- 
cal, or  more  conspicuously  held  up  to  animadversion  in  the  Syllabus 
itself,  were  extracted  textually  from  official  documents,  semi-official 
organs  in  the  public  press,  or  the  most  popular  and  anti-Catholic 
journals.  Of  course,  there  was  a great  outcry  in  both  cities,  and 
this  was  re-echoed  by  the  provincial  press  of  both  countries.  As 
usual,  there  was  a misapprehension  both  of  the  meaning  of  the  pro- 
positions in  the  Latin  text  and  of  the  scope  of  the  censure  pro- 
nounced. To  every  proposition  was  appended  a reference  indicating 
the  encyclical  or  the  allocution  in  which  the  specific  error  was  con- 
demned, together  with  the  year  and  the  day  of  the  month,  so  that 
the  bishops  for  whose  guidance  this  catalogue  was  drawn  up,  and 
the  theologians  who  were  to  use  it  in  their  lectures,  might  go  back 
to  the  original  text  of  the  Holy  Father — as  to  the  minutes  of  a sol- 
emn judgment — and  find  out  the  true  sense  and  scope  of  that  judg- 
ment from  the  circumstances  and  the  context. 

It  was  the  interest  of  the  Italian  and  French  infidel  press  to  repre- 
sent the  Holy  Father  as  condemning  modern  ideas  in  particular, 
modern  progress,  modern  science,  modem  social  institutions,  liberty 
and  liberalism,  enlightenment  and  civilization. 

This,  however,  could  only  be  done  by  ignoring  the  context  and  the 
circumstances  under  which  the  doctrine  condemned  was  put  forth 
by  its  author  and  condemned  by  the  Holy  See.  We  have  seen  above 
what  kind  of  progress,  civilization,  liberty,  and  liberalism  it  was 
which  Pius  IX.  denounced  and  stigmatized,  when  propounded  for 
his  approval  and  acceptance  by  the  men  who  had  despoiled  himself, 
plundered  the  Church,  and  usurped  even  the  right  to  dictate  to  the 
priest  to  whom  he  should  or  should  not  give  absolution. 

The  same  discernments  should  have  been  made  in  the  propositions 
bearing  on  education,  on  religious  toleration,  on  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  natural  and  supernatural  orders,  on  the  dependence  of 
reason  on  faith,  on  the  limits  within  which  science,  like  reason  her- 
self, was  supreme. 

There  is  not  in  the  entire  eighty  propositions  contained  in  this  list 
one,  which,  apart  from  mere  sectarian  prejudice,  every  enlightened 
and  fair-minded  man  would  hesitate  to  condemn  in  the  sense  under- 
stood by  its  author  and  in  that  meant  by  the  sovereign  pontiff,  the 
supreme  judge  of  doctrine  in  the  Church. 

As  it  was,  however,  these  documents,  coming  as  they  did  after  a 
long  and  ineffectual  diplomatic  campaign,  ending  by  the  convention 


400 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


of  September  tbe  15tb,  1864,  found  the  French  go’vemment  much 
irritated  against  the  Holy  Father  and  Cardinal  Antonelli.  The  con- 
vention of  September  between  the  French  and  Italian  governments 
had  fixed  a day  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  imperial  troops  from 
Rome.  Napoleon  and  his  ministers  felt  toward  the  Holy  See  the 
animosity  and  the  disposition  to  misjudge  and  misrepresent  that  a 
lawyer  feels  toward  a client  whose  cause  he  has  agreed  to  betray ; 
while  the  Italian  government  entertained  the  same  dispositions,  but 
intensified  by  the  consciousness  of  the  -wrongs  already  committed, 
and  still  more  so  by  the  further  -wrongs  it  contemplated. 

So  it  was,  humanly  speaking,  impossible  that  either  government 
or  its  abettors  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  in  Great  Britain,  or  in 
the  United  States,  could  be  expected  to  feel  otherwise  than  very  sore 
at  solemn  doctrinal  condemnations  which  stigmatized  their  own  cher- 
ished principles  and  recent  acts. 

There  was  an  attempt  toward  getting  up  in  France  a systematic 
persecution  against  every  member  of  the  clergy  who  dared  to  pub- 
lish either  the  encyclical  or  the  Syllabus  ; but  the  attempt  was  but  a 
halting  one,  and  turned  to  the  discredit  of  a government  already 
bankrupt  in  public  opinion.  In  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  there  was 
no  liberty  for  bishop  or  priest,  save  to  do  the  will  of  the  revolu- 
tion. 

Bishop  Dupanloup  undertook  to  show  up  the  egregious  ignorance 
of  the  journalists  and  others  who  had  been  translating  and  com- 
menting on  the  inculpated  documents.  He  pointed  out  no  less  than 
seventy  mistranslations  and  misconceptions ; for  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
not  yet  taken  it  on  himself  to  disgrace  his  scholarship  and  his 
statesmanship  by  following  in  the  wake  of  the  Siecle,  the  Journal 
des  DehatSy  and  the  Bavarian  Jansenists. 

Statesmen  who  have  an  inviolable  respect  for  the  great  principles 
which  underlie-  social  order,  authority,  liberty,  and  security  ; Chris- 
tian parents  who  love  the  purity  and  peace  and  felicity  of  their 
homes ; men  of  science  and  true  progress  who  know  that  the  truths 
of  the  moral  world  are  as  immutable  and  well  defined  in  their 
nature  as  the  colors  of  the  spectrum,  and  who  see  and  say  that  this 
intellectual  light — though  never  so  simple  in  its  nature — makes 
a spiritual  world  as  marvelous,  beautiful,  and  diversified  as  that 
created  and  embellished  by  the  light  of  the  sun  ; all  these  can  take 
up  paragraph  after  paragraph,  proposition  after  proposition  in  the 
Syllabus,  and  find  that  the  truth  which  lies  at  the  opposite  pole 


Its  Real  Significance  and  Worth, 


401 


of  eacli  error  proscribed,  is  one  as  necessary  to  this  same  modern 
society  of  ours  as  the  sun  is  to  vegetable  and  animal  life. 

Before  long,  when  the  world  has  grown  wiser  by  the  bitter  expe- 
rience arising  from  the  failure  of  certain  theories  now  in  vogue,  the 
next  generation  will  bless  the  man  who  dared  to  hold  on  high  the 
banner  of  God’s  truth,  as  a rallying-point  for  all  who  still  clung  to 
revelation.  They  will  then  remember  the  words  of  St.  Augustine  ; 

Truth  may  be  obscured  for  a time,  but  it  cannot  be  put  down. 
Iniquity  may  flourish  for  a time ; but  last  long  it  cannot.”  OccuUari 
potest  ad  tempus  veritas,  vinci  non  potest,  Flor ere  potest  ad  tempua 
iniquitaSj  permanere  non  potest, — Enar ratio  in  Psalmum  Ixi, 


CHAPTER  XXXIL 


The  September  Cohyention” — How  Interpreted  by  the 
Parties  themselves,  and  by  the  Revolution — The  Cen- 
tenary OF  THE  Martyrdom  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul — Con- 
trast BETWEEN  THE  CANONIZATIONS  IN  ROME  AND  THE 
Industrial  Exhibition  in  Paris — The  Artists  in  Rome 

PROTEST  THAT  THE  TEMPORAL  PoWER  IS  NECESSARY — PREP- 
ARATIONS FOR  THE  Centenary — Vast  Multitude  of  Pil- 
grims— Concourse  of  Priests  and  Bishops — The  Allocu- 
tions—The  Celebration — The  magnificent  Address  of 
THE  Bishops — Touching  Presentation  from  the  Hun- 
dred Cities  of  Italy’’ — The  Crowning  Glories  of  the 
Centenary. 


SEPTEilBER,  1864:-Jult,  1867. 


EFORE  we  haye  done  with  the  year  1864,  it  may  be  well  to 


-L'  mention  the  famous  September  Conyention,”  so  called  be- 
cause concluded  at  Paris  on  the  15th  of  September  between  the  im- 
perial and  Piedmontese  goyernments.  It  was,  at  first,  kept  yery 
secret ; but  the  stipulations  leaked  out  one  after  the  other,  according 
as  either  goyemment  found  it  necessary  to  satisfy  public  opinion. 

By  the  first  article  Italy  binds  herself  not  to  attack  the  present 
territory  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  to  preyen  t by  force,  if  need  be,  all 
attacks  on  it  from  without.”  By  the  second,  France  binds  herself 
^^to  withdraw  her  troops  gradually,  and  according  as  the  army  of 
the  Holy  Father  will  be  organized.  The  eyacuation  must  be  com- 
pleted within  the  space  of  two  years.”  By  the  third  ^Hhe  Italian 
goyemment  renounces  all  right  of  protesting  against  the  formation 
of  a papal  army,  eyen  though  composed  of  foreign  Catholic  yolun- 
teers,  and  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  the  authority  of  the  Holy 
Father,  for  the  tranquillity  of  the  interior  and  the  frontier  line  of  his 


States.” 


Specious  as  were  the  dispositions  of  this  agreement,  no  one  be- 
lieyed  that  Italy  would  fulfill  her  part  of  it,  although  France  should 


402 


The  Moral  Forces''  Reserved  by  Piedmont,  403 


withdraw  her  troops.  The  French,  foreign  minister,  Droujm  de 
Lhnys,  in  communicating  the  tidings  of  its  ratification  to  the  court 
of  Turin,  claimed  to  have  thereby  rendered  a service  to  Italy ; while 
Kigra,  the  Italian  plenipotentiary,  wrote  to  his  government  that  this 
convention  ^ was  not  intended  to  mar  the  national  aspirations ; ’ more 
than  that,  his  associate,  Marchese  Pepoli,  said  openly,  at  a public 
banquet  in  Milan  : ‘^The  treaty  of  September  the  15th  is  in  nowise 
opposed  to  any  part  of  the  national  programme  ; it  breaks  the  last 
link  of  the  chain  which  bound  France  to  our  enemies.”  The  capital 
of  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy  was  transferred  from  Turin  to  Florence. 
There  was  a little  diplomatic  duel  about  the  meaning  of  certain  expres- 
sions in  tho  dispatches  of  the  plenipotentiaries.  Cavaliere  Nigra  had 
declared  ^^that  Italy  reserved  to  herself,  in  carrying  out  the  national 
aspirations,  to  employ  the  moral  forces  of  civilization  and  progress^ 

Garibaldi,  who  reserved  to  himself  to  interpret  in  his  own  way  all 
such  agreements,  wrote  immediately:  ‘‘With  Bonaparte  the  only 
convention  we  can  make,  is  to  rid  our  country  of  his  loathsome 
presence,  not  in  two  years,  but  in  two  hours.” 

Cardinal  Antonelli,  in  a circular  of  November  the  19th  to  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Holy  See  at  foreign  courts,  exposed  in  his  masterly 
way  the  vain  artifice  of  such  a convention.  There  is  no  need  of 
many  w ords,  according  to  him,  to  explain  what  is  meant  by  the 
“moral  means”  relied  on  by  the  Piedmontese  government. 

All  through  1865  and  1866  the  Holy  Father  omitted  no  effort  or 
sacrifice  to  do  his  part  in  organizing  an  army,  and  carrying  out  every 
imaginable  improvement  within  the  little  territory  left  him  by  the 
revolution.  Attempts  were  made  by  him  to  remedy  some  portion  of 
the  evils  from  which  the  dioceses  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy  were  suf- 
fering. In  more  than  one-half  of  them  the  bishops  were  either  dead, 
or  exiled,  or  imprisoned,  or  so  hampered  in  the  exercise  of  their 
sacred  ofiice  that  they  could  not,  without  the  most  serious  risks, 
fulfill  its  duties.  The  Holy  Father,  in  his  earnest  desire  to  provide 
for  the  needs  of  so  many  souls  long  deprived  of  the  sacraments, 
wrote  to  King  Victor  Emmanuel,  begging  him  to  waive  all  political 
questions  for  the  moment,  and  to  aid  the  Holy  See  in  remedying  this 
inveterate  and  ever-increasing  evil.  Signor  Xaverio  Vegezzi  was 
thereupon  sent  to  Kome,  and  a satisfactory  plan  was  agreed  upon  for 
the  nomination  of  bishops  to  the  vacant  sees  and  the  return  of  those 
in  exile ; but  the  counselors  of  Victor  Emmanuel  refused  to  ratify 
the  plan,  and  the  result  was  an  increase  of  severity  and  cruelty  to- 


404 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX. 


ward  the  clergy,  and  the  enactment  of  new  ecclesiastical  laws  by  the 
Italian  parliament  worthy  of  the  days  of  Edward  IV.  or  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, but  far  more  anti-Christian. 

The  war  of  18G6  between  Prussia  and  Austria  resulted,  in  Italy, 
in  giving  Venetia  to  Victor  Emmanuel,  although  the  forces  of  the 
latter  had  suffered  defeat  on  sea  and  land.  This  success  induced  the 
Italian  government  to  allow  the  exiled  bishops  to  return  to  their  sees, 
while  expressing  in  a note  to  the  Italian  ministers  abroad  that  “the 
Eoman  question”  must  soon  solve  itself.  “The  sovereignty  of  the 
Eoman  pontiff  is  ...  in  the  condition  of  all  other  sovereign- 
ties ; it  must  ask  from  itself  and  find  in  itself  the  reasons  of  its  ex- 
istence and  duration.  Italy  has  promised  to  France  and  Europe  not 
to  interfere  between  the  Pope  and  the  Eomans.  . . . Italy  must 

keep  her  promise,  and  await  from  the  efficiency  of  the  national 
principle  which  she  represents  the  inevitable  triumph  of  her  right.” 

The  French  “army  of  occupation  ” was  withdrawn  from  Eome  on 
December  the  6th,  1866,  a little  army  of  some  12,000  men  having 
been  organized  under  French  protection,  of  which  a select  body  of 
1,200  men,  called  “the  Antibes  Legion,”  was  exclusively  composed 
of  Frenchmen,  and  officered  by  men  who  were  allowed  to  retain  their 
rank  in  the  French  army. 

When  the  general,  Count  de  Montebello,  came  with  his  staff  to 
take  leave  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  latter  could  not  refrain  from  say- 
ing : “We  must  not  deceive  ourselves ; the  revolution  will  certainly 
come  to  Eome ; this  has  been  openly  announced  again  and  again. 
An  Italian  official  of  high  rank  has  declared  that  Italy  was  now  cre- 
ated, but  not  completed.  Italy  would  feel  herself  defeated  if  there 
could  remain  here  a little  corner  of  earth  governed  by  order,  justice, 
and  tranquillity  ! ” 

On  his  side  Garibaldi  had  made  his  proclamation.  “Friends,” 
he  said,  “so  long  as  the  priests’  cassocks  have  not  been  put  down 
our  country  cannot  be  free.  Do  not  go  to  mass,  for  if  you  do  you 
will  place  yourselves  within  reach  of  pernicious  priestly  infiuence. 

. . . This  year  shall  not  pass,  I trust,  till  Eome  shall  have  been 

freed  from  their  odious  yoke.” 

The  “National  Eoman  Committee”  scarcely  allowed  the  French 
flag  to  disappear  in  the  Campagna  when  they  issued  their  own  proc- 
lamation as  a signal  to  the  government  of  Florence  that  it  had  an 
ally  within  the  walls  of  Eome  steadily  preparing  to  surrender  it  to 
Victor  Emmanuel.  “ The  triumph  is  certain,”  were  the  concluding 


The  Silver  Lining  to  the  Storm-  Cloud,  4o5 

words ; the  days  of  clerical  despotism  are  fatally  numbered  ; your 
committee  shall  not  lea^e  you  without  occasions  for  acting,  or  with- 
out direction.” 

Mazzini,  finally,  who  was  in  downright  opposition  to  Italian  mon- 
archy of  any  kind,  put  forth  one  of  his  most  stirring  utterances. 
‘^Eome  must  not  give  herself  up  like  a second-class  and  discrowned 
city  to  a monarchy  already  condemned,  to  a monarchy  incapable  of 
any  great  action,  which  condescended  to  accept  Venice  as  an  alms 
from  the  foreigner.  Eome  cannot  be  a dependency  of  Florence. 
She  must  arise  from  her  sepulchre,  not  in  the  name  of  her  past,  but 
in  that  of  her  future  existence.” 

At  Christmas-tide  the  Holy  Father,  while  receiving  the  felicitations 
of  the  pontifical  army,  warned  the  olScers  and  men  that  there  was 
danger  ahead ; that  a Colonel  Montanucci,  belonging  to  Garibaldi’s 
volunteers,  and  an  old  Eoman  conspirator,  had  been  arrested  while 
plotting  treason  in  Eome,  and  that  papers  had  been  found  on  him 
fixing  a near  date  for  a revolution  within  the  city. 

To  the  Sacred  College,  who  came  to  offer  their  New-Year’s  homage, 
the  Holy  Father  said  that  the  divine  bread  which  he  and  they  daily 
received  must  strengthen  them  for  the  approaching  trial.  'Hfc  was 
only  a few  days  ago  that  we  learned  the  martyrdom  endured  for  the 
faith  by  several  priests  in  Corea.  Let  this  recent  example  of  a glori- 
ous witness  to  Christ  animate  us  to  be  ready  at  any  moment  to  give 
our  lives  in  defense  of  right  and  justice.” 

But  the  year  then  dawning  was  to  be  for  the  Holy  Father,  the 
Sacred  College,  for  Eome,  and  the  entire  Christian  world,  by  far  the 
most  memorable  that  Pius  IX.  had  yet  beheld.  In  June  came 
round  the  eighteenth  centenary  of  the  death  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 

According  to  St.  Jerome  * St.  Peter  suffered  two  years  after  the 
death  of  the  gi’eat  Eoman  philosopher  Seneca,  who  was  executed  by 
order  of  Nero  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  the  Christian  era ; elsewhere 
in  the  same  workf  Jerome  affirms  that  both  SS.  Peter  and  Paul 
were  put  to  death  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  Nero’s  reign,  which 
would  correspond  with  the  year  68,  if  the  years  were  reckoned  from 
the  13th  day  of  October,  the  date  of  Nero’s  accession,  but  coincides 
with  the  year  67  when  reckoned  from  the  beginning  of  January.  In 
the  same  work  Jerome  affirms  that  Peter  went  to  Eome  in  the  sec- 


* S.  Hieron.,  Be  Yiris  lllustribus,  vol.  ii.,  Ed.  Yallarsii,  pp.  835-837. 
f Ibidem,  p.  813. 


4o6 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


ond  year  of  the  Emperor  Claudius,  . . . and  occupied  there  the 

priestly  chair  for  twenty-five  years.”  The  year  of  his  arrival  was  the 
forty-second  of  our  era. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  18G6,  just  after  the  departure  of  the 
French  troops,  the  Iloly  Father  invited  by  circular  all  the  bishops 
of  the  Catholic  world  to  visit  Eome  for  the  celebration  of  the  cen- 
tenary and  the  canonization  of  several  saintly  personages.  These 
were  the  martyr  Joshaphat,  archbishop  of  Polotsk ; Pedro  de  Arbues, 
an  Augustinian  friar ; the  martyrs  of  Gorcum,  Paul  of  the  Cross, 
founder  of  the  Passionists,  Lionardo  di  Porto  Maurizio,  Maria  Fran- 
cesca, a Neapolitan  of  the  third  Order  of  St.  Peter  of  Alcantara,  and 
Germaine  Cousin,  of  the  diocese  of  Toulouse. 

On  the  10th  of  the  preceding  December  the  Holy  Father  had  the 
inexpressible  happiness  of  celebrating  with  extraordinary  solemnity 
the  beatification  of  the  Franciscan  monk  Benedict  of  Urbino,  who 
had  died  (1625)  in  odor  of  sanctity  at  Fossombrone,  within  a few 
miles  of  Sinigaglia,  leaving  the  w^hole  of  the  Adriatic  seaboard  and 
Umbria  embalmed  by  the  fragrance  of  his  life  of  supernatural  abne- 
gation. 

Pius  IX.,  while  yet  a child,  had  heard  and  read  of  this  man  of 
noble  birth  and  splendid  talents,  before  whom  opened  out  every  ave- 
nue to  worldly  fame  and  happiness,  becoming  an  humble  Capuchin, 
hiding  himself  away  in  the  obscurity  of  the  cloister,  and  setting  all 
his  ambition  on  becoming  the  crucified  disciple  of  a crucified  Master. 
It  was  no  idle  pageantry  to  which  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  thus  in- 
vited the  bishops  and  populations  of  Italy  and  the  Christian  world. 
The  revolution  aimed  at  killing  all  that  was  spiritual  and  supernatu- 
ral in  the  souls  and  lives  of  men ; he  would  profit  by  every  opportu- 
nity to  call  together  the  children  of  God  and  to  hold  up  to  their  ad- 
miration these  heavenly  men  and  women  who  are  the  brightest  and 
purest  glory  of  the  race. 

Napoleon  III.  had  convened  the  Old  World  and  the  New  to  the 
industrial  exhibition  of  Paris,  in  the  spring  of  that  same  year ; sov- 
ereigns, emperors,  and  kings,  warriors,  statesmen,  and  scientists,  all 
that  was  foremost  in  position  and  fame  and  influence  was  invited 
to  admire  in  the  beautiful  capital  of  France  the  marvelous  products 
of  those  arts  and  industries  which  had  been  fostered  by  the  genius  of 
Christian  civilization.  It  was  to  be  Napoleon’s  last  triumph. 

Pius  IX.,  on  the  contrary,  had  to  lay  before  men’s  minds,  in  the 
city  of  the  holy  apostles,  triumphs  and  glories  of  a far  higher  and 


Address  of  the  Artists  Resident  in  Rome.  407 


more  lasting  nature.  It  was  holiness  that  had  created  art  in  Italy 
and  covered  the  land  with  forms  of  exquisite  beauty ; it  was  the  men 
and  women  who  had  shone  all  over  Italy  like  apparitions  of  heavenly 
goodness  and  purity  who  had  inspired  the  pen  of  poet,  the  brush  of 
painter,  and  the  sculptor’s  chisel.  It  was  in  these  great  celebrations 
of  spiritual  heroism,  amid  the  Christian  splendors  of  Eome,  that 
artists  had  ever  caught  both  their  ideal  conceptions  and  the  very 
colors  with  which  they  embellished  their  canvas.  Wherever  the  re- 
volution had  passed,  they  had  seen  it  profane  and  soil  and  destroy 
all  that  Christian  art  had  created.  Between  their  joy  at  the  ap- 
proaching centenary  and  the  fears  begotten  by  the  threats  of  Garibaldi 
and  the  prophecies  of  Mazzini,  the  body  of  artists  in  Home  resolved 
that,  if  the  city  in  which  the  Popes  had  nursed  Art  so  tenderly  and 
rewarded  her  labors  with  more  than  royal  munificence,  should  pass 
into  the  hands  of  the  revolution,  they  should  leave  a testimony  be- 
hind them  of  their  gratitude  to  the  fatherly  sovereignty  about  to 
expire. 

Most  Holy  Father,”  they  said  in  their  address,  religion,  policy, 
and  mere  human  wisdom  have  protested  in  favor  of  the  temporal 
power  of  the  papacy. 

The  Arts  come,  in  their  turn,  to  lay  their  homage  at  the  feet  of 
your  Holiness,  and  to  proclaim  to  the  world  that  this  power  is  to 
them  indispensable.  Their  voice  must  be  heard  and  listened  to. 
For,  when  the  tide  of  generations  recedes,  the  Arts  remain  as  the 
irrefutable  witnesses  of  the  power  and  splendor  of  the  civilization 
amid  which  these  generations  have  lived.  The  sovereigns  who 
encourage  and  develop  them  acquire  immortal  renown ; those  who 
neglect  or  oppress  them  meet  only  with  the  contempt  of  pos- 
terity. 

‘^What  royal  dynasty  has,  in  this  respect,  deserved  so  well  of  civ- 
ilization and  humanity  as  that  of  the  sovereign  pontiffs  ? They 
have  been  the  watchful  guardians  of  the  masterpieces  bequeathed  to 
us  by  antiquity.  They  have  given  these  a home  in  their  own  pal- 
aces, to  show  that  religion  adopts  and  ennobles  all  that  is  truly  beau- 
tiful. It  is  the  sovereign  pontiffs  who,  by  opening  new  avenues  for 
modem  art,  have  brought  it  to  the  point  of  perfection  embodied  in 
the  masterpieces  of  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo.  They  alone  sup- 
port in  Rome  that  unique  assemblage  of  all  that  is  beautiful  in  every 
order,  that  splendid  intellectual  galaxy  in  whose  light  the  artists  of 
every  land  are  formed. 


4o8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Holy  Father,  the  little  spot  of  earth  whicli  the  reyolutlon  has 
not  yet  taken  from  you,  is  the  only  place  in  which  the  Arts  find  the 
inspiration  that  is  for  them  the  breath  of  life,  and  the  quiet  without 
which  that  life  cannot  expand. 

The  soul  of  the  true  artist  is  filled  with  unspeakable  apprehen- 
sion by  the  possibility  of  seeing  these  masterpieces  destroyed  or  scat- 
tered abroad,  these  treasures  plundered,  all  that  wealth  annihilated ; 
and  especially  by  that  of  seeing  the  ungraceful  and  meager  forms  of 
modern  utilitarianism  usurp  the  place  held  by  the  manners,  the 
habits,  the  face  of  all  things  in  this  privileged  land  of  beauty,  all 
consecrated  by  the  admiration  of  ages. 

Alas,  Holy  Father,  what  is  happening  in  the  rest  of  Italy  affords 
but  too  firm  a ground  for  such  apprehensions.  The  genius  of  de- 
struction is  abroad  there,  and  proceeds  to  sweep  away  pitilessly  what 
was  the  glory  of  ancient  Italy.  The  spoliation  and  suppression  of 
the  religious  orders  are  one  of  the  most  deadly  blows  ever  aimed  at 
the  existence  of  the  fine  arts.  Saddened  by  these  forebodings,  fear- 
ful of  what  the  future  may  bring  forth,  the  artists  resident  in  Eome 
come  to  the  feet  of  your  Holiness  to  give  utterance  to  their  deep  con- 
viction that  the  splendor,  the  greatness,  the  very  existence  of  the 
fine  arts  in  Europe,  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  maintenance 
of  the  beneficent  power  of  the  sovereign  pontiffs. 

‘‘Were  it  not  that  the  rival  passions  which  divide  Europe  are  of 
themselves  fatally  blind  to  consequences,  the  reign  of  your  Holiness 
would  suffice  to  render  this  truth  evident  to  all.  For,  while  else- 
where national  wealth  is  wasted  in  frivolous  undertakings  or  in  pre- 
paring instruments  of  destruction,  the  modest  revenues  inherited  by 
your  Holiness  are  ever  employed  in  continuing  gloriously  the  noble 
labor  of  your  predecessors. 

“ On  the  one  hand,  you  have  drawn  from  obscurity  the  beginnings 
of  Christian  art,  thereby  affording  it  new  and  precious  data  ; on  the 
other,  you  have  adorned  Eome  and  the  Vatican  with  works  which 
furnish  a new  and  brilliant  page  to  the  grand  history  of  art  embodied 
in  the  Vatican  itself.  While  elsewhere  reigned  trouble  and  agita- 
tion, here  artists  were  able,  beneath  the  blessed  sway  of  your  Holi- 
ness, to  enjoy  a kindly  welcome,  an  unrestrained  liberty,  and  the 
peaceful  contemplation  of  these  venerable  structures  and  sites,  pre- 
served so  happily  by  the  pontifical  government  from  the  sad  altera- 
tions blindly  wrought  in  other  cities  by  the  troublous  life  of  modern 
communities. 


The  Paris  Expositio7i  and  the  Roman  Centenary,  409 

May  tlie  Almighty  One  hear  our  prayer,  and  persuade  both  sov- 
ereigns and  nations  that  their  honor  and  glory  shall  be  measured  in 
coming  ages  on  the  degree  of  protection  they  will  accord  to  the  tern-  - 
poral  power  of  the  papacy,  which  has  ever  been  the  unwearied  pro- 
moter of  the  development  of  all  the  noblest  faculties  in  man,  and 
which  alone  can  continue  to  be  the  custodian  of  the  works  of  art 
originated  by  itself,  and  by  it  so  faithfully  treasured  for  the  benefit 
of  all  peoples  ! ” 

Yes,  Eome  was  and  is  for  all  peoples  ^Hhe  city  of  soul.’’  To  him 
who  happened  to  reign  there  till  then,  no  native  of  other  lands  was 
a foreigner.  No  suffering,  no  glory  of  the  remotest  tribe  of  earth, 
failed  to  find  sympathy  and  a record  there. 

On  the  22d  of  February  the  Holy  Father  signed  decrees  relating 
to  the  beatification  of  several  holy  persons,  among  whom  was  the 
venerable  Clement-Maria  Hofbauer,  a Eedemptorist. 

On  the  26th  he  went  in  state  to  the  Eoman  College,  and  had  a de- 
cree of  the  Congregation  of  Eites  read  before  him,  bearing  on  the 
canonization  of  tAvo  hundred  and  five  Japanese  Christians — priests, 
catechists,  laymen,  women,  and  children — put  to  death  in  hatred  of 
the  faith  from  1617  to  1632. 

June  came  at  length — such  a June  as  Eome  had  never  witnessed. 
In  Paris,  too,  during  the  first  weeks  of  that  month  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia, with  Count  Bismark,  and  the  emperor  of  Eussia,  with  his  chan- 
cellor, graced  the  imperial  court  and  the  exhibition  by  their  pres- 
ence. And  on  the  25th  of  that  same  month  a large  portion  of 
Cochin  China  was  annexed  to  the  French  empire.  Amid  all  these 
triumphs  of  industry  and  the  military  successes  abroad,  with  the 
mightiest  monarchs  of  Europe  coming  to  contemplate  his  greatness, 
how  could  Napoleon  III.  dream  that  even  then,  while  decking  out 
Versailles  for  his  royal  guests,  there  Avere  those  who  could  read  the 
handwriting  on  the  wall  of  the  banquet! ng-room  ? 

On  the  11th  and  12th  there  Avere  consistories  held  at  Eome,  in 
presence  of  the  bishops,  for  the  preparation  of  the  acts  of  canoniza- 
tion. The  16th  was  the  anniversary  of  the  Pope’s  election,  and  all 
assembled  to  congratulate  the  Holy  Father.  In  his  answer  to  the 
address  read  by  Cardinal  Patrizi,  the  Pope,  among  other  memorable 
things,  said  : Modern  society  is  ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  two  things, 
progress  and  unity.  It  fails  to  reach  either,  because  its  motive  prin- 
ciples are  selfishness  and  pride.  Pride  is  the  worst  enemy  of  prog- 
ress, and  selfishness,  by  destroying  charity,  the  bond  of  souls,  there- 


410 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Dy  renders  union  impossible.  Now  it  is  the  sovereign  pontiff  whom 
God  has  established  to  direet  and  to  enlighten  society,  to  point  out 
evil  and  to  indieate  the  proper  remedy.  This  induced  me  some  years 
ago  to  publish  the  Syllabus.  I now  confirm  that  solemn  act  in  your 
presence.  It  is  to  be  henceforth  the  rule  of  your  teaching.  We 
have  to  contend  unceasingly  with  tlie  enemies  who  beset  us.  Placed 
on  the  mountain-top,  like  Moses,  I lift  up  my  hands  to  God  in 
prayer  for  the  triumph  of  his  Church.  ...  I ask  of  you,  my 
brother-bishops,  to  support  my  arms,  for  they  groAV  weary.  Take 
courage ! The  Church  must  triumph ; I leave  this  hope  in  your 
hearts ; not  as  a hope  merely,  but  as  a prophecy.” 

Never  had  Eome  held  such  a multitude,  not  only  of  bishops,  but  of 
priests.  To  the  latter,  the  Pope  resolved  to  deliver  a solemn  allocu- 
tion. But  their  numbers  were  so  great  that  they  filled  the  immense 
consistorial  hall,  the  passages,  the  noble  staircase,  and  the  outside 
court.  He  came  to  the  hall  in  unusual  state,  to  testify  his  affection 
for  this  faithful  and  fervent  concourse  of  clerical  pilgrims.  The 
throne  was  raised  higher  than  usual,  to  give  this  novel  audience  a 
better  opportunity  of  seeing  and  hearing  the  supreme  pastor.  As  he 
entered,  preceded  by  the  Noble  Guard  and  his  household  prelates, 
a shout  of  joyous  acclamation  burst  forth  simultaneously  from  these 
thousands  of  priests,  who  could  not  restrain  the  expression  of  their  love 
and  veneration.  The  Holy  Father  was  visibly  moved,  and,  gathering 
enthusiasm  from  the  atmosphere  of  love  wdiich  surrounded  him,  his 
voice  seemed  to  reach  every  comer  of  the  hall  and  passages,  and  to 
thrill  with  its  tones  even  those  who  could  not  distinguish  the  words. 

He  thanked  them  for  the  deep  consolation  afforded  by  such  a mag- 
nificent assemblage.  They  were  the  tribe  in  Israel  whose  special  in- 
heritance was  the  Lord;  they  stood  between  him  and  his  people 
evermore,  offering  with  prayer  and  supplication  the  spotless  victim 
of  the  new  law.  Let  them  look  well  to  the  ministry  intrusted  to 
them,  shining  in  presence  of  all  men  by  the  dignity  of  their  bear- 
ing, the  innocence  of  their  life,  by  integrity  and  charity,  and  the 
golden  ornaments  of  every  virtue. 

‘^You,  who  are  the  interpreters  of  the  word  of  God,  you  must 
preach  it  unweariedly  to  the  wise  and  the  unwise ; preach  to  them 
Christ  and  him  crucified,  not  in  the  loftiness  of  speech  but  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  spirit ; never  ceasing  to  recall  into  the  right  road 
all  who  stray  and  to  confirm  them  in  sound  doctrine. 

^‘Dispensers  of  the  divine  mysteries  and  of  the  manifold  grace  of 


Public  Allocution  to  the  Bishops, 


411 


God,  deal  it  out  to  the  faithful  people,  to  the  sick  especially,  in 
order  that  no  help  may  fair  them  in  their  last  struggle  with  the  Evil 
One. 

‘‘Do  not  refuse  to  the  little  ones  of  the  flock  the  milk  which  they 
need  ; be  it  your  dearest  care  to  teach  them,  to  train  them,  to  form 
them. 

“ Be  the  faithful  and  devoted  helpmates  of  your  respective  bishops ; 
obeying  them  in  all  things,  zealous  to  heal  in  your  parishes  whatever 
is  ailing,  to  bind  up  what  is  broken,  to  raise  up  what  is  fallen,  to 
seek  what  is  lost,  in  order  that  in  all  things  God  may  be  honored 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Lift  up  your  souls  and  bethink  you 
of  the  immeasurable  height  of  glory  prepared  by  him  for  all  true  and 
faithful  laborers.  . . 

A public  consistory  was  held  on  the  26th.  There  were  then  five 
hundred  bishops  in  Rome.  No  such  number  had  ever  met  in  one 
place  in  Italy  or  in  any  place  in  the  West.  But  this  was  the  Cen- 
tennial Feast  of  Catholicity,  and  from  the  remotest  regions  of  the 
known  world  priests  and  bishops  had  flocked  to  Rome,  to  kneel  at 
the  tomb  of  its  first  great  bishop,  the  eighteen-hundredth  anniver- 
sary of  whose  martyrdom  they  were  going  to  celebrate  on  the  very 
spot  three  days  afterward ; they  had  come,  also,  to  venerate  Peter  in 
the  person  of  his  venerable  and  glorious  successor,  whose  protracted 
witnessing  to  Christ’s  truth  had  now  lasted  so  long.  And  though 
no  Nero  ruled  in  Rome,  as  in  the  days  of  Peter  and  Paul,  there  was 
a spirit  abroad,  and  thundering  at  the  very  gates  of  Rome,  as  fell  as 
the  fury  of  the  old  Pagan  world  which  the  Apostles  had  defied. 

The  population  of  Rome  had  more  than  doubled  within  the  last 
ten  days.  Surely  this  mighty  inflow  of  the  learned,  the  pious,  the 
high-placed  in  the  Church,  and  the  high-born  in  every  Christian 
land,  was  a proof  that  the  Church  founded  by  Peter  was  not  failing 
after  eighteen  centuries,  that  the  Mighty  Mother  was  not  soon  to  ful- 
fill the  prayers  or  the  prophecies  of  her  enemies,  and  to  die  widowed, 
childless,  forsaken,  and  unwept. 

The  usual  consistorial  hall  was  utterly  inadequate  to  hold  the 
crowd  of  dignified  and  devout  listeners.  The  meeting  was  held  in 
the  vast  room  above  the  vestibule  of  St.  Peter’s.  The  first  ceremony 
was  the  bestowing  of  the  cardinal’s  hat  on  the  Archbishop  of  Seville, 
Luis  de  la  Lastra  y Cuesta.  Then,  there  was  a formal  petition  for 
the  beatification  of  Marie  Rivier,  the  foundress  of  the  French  Presen- 
tation Nuns,  after  which  the  Pope  delivered  the  expected  allocution. 


412 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


After  expressing  his  heartfelt  sentiments  of  gratitude  and  admira- 
tion for  the  readiness  with  whieh  the  members  of  the  episeopate  had 
responded  to  his  invitation,  the  Pope  proceeded  : 

‘‘Nothing  ever  has  so  fulfilled  my  desires,  nothing  has  afforded 
such  deep  satisfaction,  as  to  find  myself  in  your  midst  on  this  occa- 
sion. Everything  on  which  the  eye  rests  in  these  solemnities  is  elo- 
quent of  the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  of  the  immovable  foun- 
dation of  that  unity,  of  the  carefulness  and  pride  we  should  employ 
in  guarding  it.  Yes,  all  here  proclaims  that  admirable  unity,  by 
which,  as  through  a mysterious  channel,  all  the  gifts  and  graces  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  flow  into  the  mystic  body  of  Christ,  calling  forth  in 
every  one  of  its  members  these  acts  of  faith  and  charity  which  excite 
the  wonder  of  all  mankind. 

“What  has  brought  you  here  ? To  decree  the  honors  of  sanctity 
to  these  heroes  of  the  Church,  the  greater  number  of  whom  bore  away 
the  palm  of  victory  in  their  glorious  witness  for  Christ.  Of  these 
some  died  in  defending  the  primacy  of  this  Apostolic  See,  which  is 
the  center  of  truth  and  unity ; others  gave  their  lives  in  defense  of 
the  integrity  and  unity  of  the  faith  ; others  again  shed  their  blood  in 
the  endeavor  to  bring  back  schismatics  to  the  one  fold.  Is  it  not 
providential  that  such  heroism  should  be  commemorated  and  hon- 
ored at  the  very  moment  when  the  Catholic  faith  and  the  authority 
of  this  Holy  See  are  the  object  of  such  furious  and  implacable  con- 
spiracies ? 

“We  are  also  here  to  celebrate  with  solemn  rites  the  memory  of 
that  auspicious  day,  eighteen  hundred  j^ears  ago,  when  Peter  and 
Paul  consecrated  by  their  glorious  witnessing  and  their  precious 
blood  this  impregnable  stronghold  of  Catholic  unity.  . . . 

“What  can  be  more  reasonable  than  that  our  joyous  commemora- 
tion of  this  triumphant  death  of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  should 
be  graced  by  your  presence  ? Eor  he  belongs  to  the  entire  Catholic 
world.  . . . It  is  also  most  important  that  the  enemies  of  relig- 

ion should  conclude  from  what  they  witness  here,  how  mighty  is  the 
energy,  how  unfailing  the  life  of  that  Catholic  Church  so  bitterly 
hated  by  them ; how  little  wisdom  they  display  in  matching  their 
power  and  their  little  temporary  triumphs  over  her  against  that  in- 
comparable union  of  living  forces  which  Christ’s  creative  power  has 
bound  around  this  central  rock. 

“More  than  ever  is  it  needful  in  our  age  that  all  men  should  sec 
and  understand  that  the  only  strong  and  lasting  tie  between  men’s 


The  Virtue  which  issues  from  Peter  s Tomb,  413 


Boiils  is  in  the  reign  over  all  of  the  same  Spirit  of  God.  Besides  what 
can  make  a more  abiding  impression  on  Catholic  nations,  what  can 
draw  them  more  powerfully  and  bind  them  more  closely  in  obedi- 
ence to  this  apostolic  chair,  and  to  ns,  than  to  see  how  much  their 
pastors  cherish  the  rights  and  duties  of  Catholic  unity,  to  see  them 
journeying  from  the  farthest  lands,  despite  every  inconvenience  and 
obstacle,  and  hastening  toward  Eome  and  the  apostolic  chair  in  order 
to  revere  in  our  humble  person  the  successor  of  Peter  and  the  vicar 
of  Christ  ? . . . 

We  have  been  always  convinced,  whenever  we  beheld  you  ap- 
proaching Peter  in  the  person  of  his  successor,  or  even  entering  this 
city  impregnated  with  his  blood,  that  a special  virtue  should  go  forth 
thence  to  each  one  of  you.  Yes,  from  this  tomb  where  Peter’s  ashes 
repose,  amid  the  veneration  of  +he  Christian  world,  a hidden  power, 
a salutary  energy  emanates,  which  instills  into  the  souls  of  the  chief 
pastors  the  desire  of  great  undertakings  and  of  vast  designs,  inspiring 
that  fearlessness  and  magnanimity  which  enables  them  to  put  down 
the  impudent  boldness  of  their  assailants.  . . . 

No,  there  cannot  be  offered  to  the  eyes  of  men  and  angels  a more 
magnificent  spectacle  than  what  one  beholds  in  such  a concourse  of 
pilgi-ims  as  this.  You,  who  come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  this 
the  home  of  your  father,  you  remind  us  not  only  of  that  pilgrimage 
which  leads  us  all  to  the  eternal  home,  hut  you  recall  the  journey  of 
the  chosen  people  from  Egypt  to  the  promised  land ; the  twelve 
tribes  marching  together,  each  under  its  chief,  bearing  its  own  name, 
having  its  own  appropriate  place  in  the  camp  ; every  family  there 
was  obedient  to  its  parents,  every  company  of  warriors  hearkened  to 
the  voice  of  its  captain,  and  the  entire  multitude  to  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed leader.  And  yet  all  these  tribes  were  but  one  people,  ador- 
ing the  same  God,  worshiping  at  the  same  altar,  ruled  by  the  same 
laws,  having  one  pontiff,  Aaron,  and  one  leader,  Moses ; one  people 
enjoying  common  rights  in  the  perils  and  labors  of  warfare,  as  well 
•as  in  the  results  of  victory  dwelling  beneath  the  same  tents,  and  fed 
by  the  same  miraculous  bread,  and  yearning  all  for  the  same  end  of 
their  pilgrimage.  . . . 

“ Nothing  is  to  us  the  subject  of  such  ardent  longing  as  to  see 
both  ourselves  and  the  universal  Church  deriving  from  this  precious 
union  the  most  salutary  advantage.  It  has  long  been  a serious  mat- 
ter of  thought  for  us,  one,  indeed,  communicated  to  several  of  the 
episcopal  body,  ...  to  hold  an  oecumenical  council,  . . . 


414 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


in  whicli,  with  the  divine  assistance,  our  united  counsels  and  solici- 
tude should  devise  the  needful  and  efificent  remedies  for  the  evils 
that  afflict  the  Church.” 

This  was,  to  the  immense  majority,  the  first  intimation  of  the  de- 
sign long  entertained  by  the  Holy  Father,  and  which,  two  years 
afterward,  was  realized  in  the  general  council  of  the  Vatican.  The 
announcement,  coming  at  the  conclusion  of  the  papal  address,  in- 
creased to  an  extraordinary  degree  the  emotion  and  enthusiasm  of 
bishops,  priests,  and  laymen.  So  that,  ere  the  29th  of  June  had 
dawned  on  the  Eternal  City,  the  pious  fervor  of  the  vast  multitude 
of  pilgrims  seemed  to  have  reached  a height  beyond  which  it  could 
not  go.  There  was  a first  illumination  on  the  eve — the  28th. 

And  yet  these  were  only  the  preparations  for  the  grand  solemnity 
itself.  Every  scrap  of  territoiy  still  left  to  the  Holy  Father  poured 
its  population  into  Eome  with  the  first  streak  of  dawn.  Tliis  time 
the  Eoman  people  felt  no  jealousy  of  the  concourse  of  strangers ; 
their  faith  and  their  experience  taught  them  that  they  were  bro- 
thers, the  children  of  the  same  great  mother,  and  their  presence, 
they  knew,  brought  wealth  to  Eome  as  well  as  honor. 

Before  the  solemn  pontifical  mass  the  ceremony  of  canonization 
took  place ; the  Holy  Father  himself  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacrifice 
and  preached  the  homily  at  the  gospel — a model  in  its  way  for 
preachers  at  High  Mass  on  solemn  occasions — short,  solid,  and  soul- 
stirring. There  were  three  choirs,  numbering  four  hundred  voices, 
filling  the  vast  basilica  with  music,  such  as  is  not  often  heard  on  this 
side  of  heaven.  The  solemn  afternoon  service  was  scarcely  less  im- 
pressive or  interesting  than  that  of  the  forenoon,  and  at  night,  St 
Peter’s  and  all  Eome  was  a blaze  of  light. 

The  next  day,  the  30th,  being  the  proper  feast  of  St.  Paul,  there 
was  held  in  his  most  beautiful  basilica  “beyond  the  walls,”  a cele- 
bration almost  as  magnificent  as  that  in  St.  Peter’s  ; and  on  the  1st 
of  July  the  bishops,  before  leaving  Eome,  presented  an  address  to  the 
Holy  Father,  in  answer  to  the  allocution  of  the  26th  of  June,  as 
well  as  to  express  their  gratitude  for  his  many  kindnesses  to  themselves. 

Ho  extract  can  give  even  a faint  conception  of  this  most  eloquent 
and  pregnant  piece  of  ecclesiastical  doctrine  and  piety,  the  incompar- 
ably beautiful  expression  of  the  faith  and  veneration  of  the  united 
episcopate ; and  surely  no  translation  can  convey  anything  of  the 
exquisite  latinity  of  this  composition,  drawn  up  by  the  elite  of  the 
august  body  and  polished  by  the  ripest  scholars  of  modern  Eome. 


Address  of  the  Bishops, 


41S 

Under  you  as  our  leader  we  shall  go  forward  with  one  mind  in 
the  ways  of  the  Lord,  we  shall  follow  you,  labor  by  your  side,  and 
share  every  danger,  every  good  or  evil  fortune  with  you  in  the  di- 
vine service.  All  these  sentiments  which  we  expressed  to  you  (five 
years  ago)  we  now  renew  with  our  whole  heart,  and  affirm  in  the 
hearing  of  all  men,  that  we  remember  with  gratitude  and  praise  with 
united  earnestness  all  that  you  have  accomplished  since  then  for  the 
salvation  of  our  people  and  the  glory  of  the  Church. 

‘‘What  Peter  said  long  ago,  ‘We  cannot  but  speak  the  things 
which  we  have  seen  and  heard,’  has  also  been  the  rule  with  you,  as 
your  every  word  and  act  attests.  You  have  never  been  silent.  In 
the  discharge  of  your  supreme  office  you  have  ever  proclaimed  the 
eternal  truths  ; you  denounced  these  errors  which  aim  at  overturning 
the  foundations  of  both  the  natural  and  supernatural  orders,  and  the 
basis  of  ecclesiastical  and  civil  society ; you  dispelled  the  darkness 
with  which  the  pernicious  novelties  of  the  age  attempted  to  cloud 
men’s  minds  ; you  boldly  declared  and  insisted  on  the  truths  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  every  individual  man,  as  well  as  to  the  Chris- 
tian family  and  the  civil  community ; in  one  word,  you  so  taught 
that  all  might  understand  what  it  behooves  every  true  Catholic  to  be- 
lieve, to  practice,  and  to  profess. 

“For  this  extraordinary  solicitude  we  are,  and  ever  shall  be,  most 
grateful  to  your  Holiness.  Believing  that  Peter  has  spoken  by  the 
mouth  of  Pius,  what  things  soever  have  been  spoken,  confirmed,  and 
pronounced  by  you  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  deposit  of  faith,  these 
we  also  say,  confirm,  proclaim ; and  with  one  voice  and  one  mind  we 
reject  everything  which,  as  being  opposed  to  divine  faith,  the  salva- 
tion of  souls,  and  the  welfare  of  human  soeiety,  you  have  judged  fit 
to  condemn  and  reject.  For  this  is  our  firm  conviction,  in  con- 
formity with  what  the  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Florence  defined  in 
the  ‘decree  on  Union,’  that  the  Koman  pontilf  is  the  vicar  of  Christ, 
the  head  of  the  whole  Church,  the  father  and  teacher  of  all  Chris- 
tians, and  to  him  in  the  Blessed  Peter  hath  been  given  by  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  full  power  to  feed,  to  rule,  and  to  govern  the  universal 
Church.  . . . 

“We  who  are  so  deeply  moved  by  the  filial  love  displayed  toward 
you  by  all  the  faithful,  0 Blessed  Father,  are  still  more  afiected  bj 
the  love  and  obedience  shown  you  by  the  worthy  inhabitants  of  the 
Eternal  City,  who  behold  in  you  a most  kind  parent  and  sovereign. 
Happy  people,  and  capable  of  appreciating  true  felicity,  who  know 


4i6 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


what  greatness  and  glory  redound  to  them  from  having  in  theii 
midst  the  See  of  Peter,  who  feel  that  the  measure  of  the  divine 
goodness  toward  themselves  is  limited  only  by  their  reverence  for  the 
vicar  of  Christ  and  their  love  for  so  holy  a sovereign  ! This  is  what 
you  should  covet,  wdiat  you  should  study,  0 city  of  Rome,  you  that 
every  Christian  man  sets  before  any  other  in  the  w'orld,  and  cherishes 
as  his  own,  while  he  prays  that  you  be  a shining  example  to  all, 
adorned  with  every  heavenly  grac(j!  and  gift,  and  blessed  wdth  the 
wealth  of  all  desirable  virtues  and  treasures.” 

And  thus  the  heart  of  the  entire  fold  of  Christ,  from  the  East  and 
' the  West  and  the  North  and  the  South,  continued  to  pour  the  streams 
of  its  joy  and  worship  around  that  tomb  of  Peter  and  the  throne  of 
his  successor,  day  after  day,  like  the  gathered  waters  of  the  four 
great  rivers  of  Eden  as  they  ran  exulting  around  the  hillside  on 
which  Noe  and  his  sons  offered  their  holocaust  of  praise  and  thanks- 
giving, before  they  spread  themselves  abroad  on  the  unpeopled 
earth. 

Another  great  joy  was  yet  in  store  for  Pius  IX.,  and  on  that  same 
day.  The  cities  of  Italy,  though  oppressed  and  desolate  under  the 
reign  of  terror,  maintained  in  the  name  of  freedom,  had  not  been 
unmindful  of  the  customs  honored  in  former  centennial  celebra- 
tions. In  all  past  Christian  ages  they  made  it  their  delight  to  send 
an  offering  on  this  day  to  the  successor  of  Peter.  And  now  fifteen 
hundred  of  Italy’s  noblest  and  best  were  in  Rome  to  lay  at  the  feet 
of  Pius  IX.  the  homage  and  offerings  of  Italy. 

The  ceremony  took  place  in  the  great  hall,  in  which  the  allocution 
was  delivered  on  the  26th,  above  the  vestibule  of  St.  Peter’s.  The 
entrance  of  the  Holy  Father  moved  the  assemblage  to  an  indescriba- 
ble tumult  of  enthusiasm ; the  acclamations,  the  shouts  of  joy,  of 
love,  of  veneration,  were  mixed  with  sobs  and  tears  and  inarticulate 
cries  of  grief  and  blessing,  over  which  by  degrees  a silence  came, 
caused  by  the  contagious  tears  which  even  the  strongest  man  could 
not  restrain.  The  soul  of  true,  of  Catholic  Italy  was  there.  . . . 

But  let  us  hearken  to  its  accents. 

When  the  general  emotion  had  sufficiently  subsided  to  allow  the 
presentation  and  the  address  to  be  made,  two  members  of  the  depu- 
ration ascended  the  steps  of  the  throne,  bearing  a magnificent  album, 
in  which  were  inscribed  the  names  of  the  hundred  Italian  cities  and 
the  names  of  their  faithful  childi’en.  The  young  Count  Clodio  Bos- 
chetti,  of  Modena,  read  the  following  address,  almost  every  sentence 


Italy  for  the  Pope  still. 


417 


of  whicli  was  interrupted,  or  rather  interpreted  by  the  unanimous 
cries  of  Yes  ! yes  ! ’Tis  true,  ’tis  true  I ’’ 

^^Holy  Father  : — Some  persons  have  been  found  to  say  that  the 
people  of  Italy  are  opposed  to  you,  that  they  ask  of  you  a reconcilia- 
tion, which  these  men  deem  necessary.  We  say  it  openly,  these  men 
LIE ! and  they  slander  our  country.  The  Italian  people  are  filled 
with  veneration  and  affection  for  your  sacred  person.  They  have 
admired,  and  do  still  admire,  in  your  magnificent  resistance,  the 
strength  of  Christ’s  vicar  on  earth. 

^^In  order  to  stifle  in  their  hearts  such  sentiments  of  devotion, 
vexations,  imprisonment,  forced  seclusion  in  one’s  own  abode,  have 
been  tried,  and  tried  in  vain.  Whenever  an  opportunity  was  of- 
fered to  the  i)eople  of  displaying  these  sentiments  in  the  face  of  all 
men,  they  have  seized  it  with  avidity  and  spoken  out  as  solemnly  as 
the  heavy  yoke  they  hear  would  allow  them.  Could  they  permit 
this  centennial  anniversary  of  the  martyrdom  of  the  great  apos- 
tles to  pass  by  without  giving  these  sentiments  a renewed  expres- 
sion ? 

It  was  only  needful  to  simply  propose  the  thing  to  the  hundred 
cities  of  Italy,  to  enkindle  among  all  classes  an  ardent  desire  of 
sharing  in  this  manifestation.  The  extraordinary  number  of  sub- 
scribers, the  fervent  expression  of  their  attachment,  the  prayers 
which  accompany  each  donation,  are  recorded  in  the  album  which 
we  have  the  honor  of  laying  at  your  feet : it  will  tell  the  world  once 
more  what  warm  devotion  the  people  of  Itlay’s  hundred  cities  enter- 
tain toward  you. 

^^Holy  Father,  we  who  meet  here  around  your  throne  to  offer  you 
in  their  name  this  new  testimony  and  feeble  pledge  of  their  devotion, 
have  also  to  present  the  mites  collected  to  enable  you  to  tide  over 
difficulties  created  by  your  own  degenerate  children.  But  a few 
days  ago,  one  who  hates  in  you  the  divine  Kedeemer  whom  you  repre- 
sent, said  in  public  that  the  masses  of  the  Italian  population  are  for 
you  and  your  authority. 

“We  are  happy  to  offer  you  the  expression  of  this  people’s  true 
sentiments,  as  attested  by  such  an  avowal.  We  are  conscious  that 
the  papacy  is  now,  and  has  ever  been,  the  prop  and  bulwark  of  all 
justice,  just  as  we  know  that  it  has  always  been  and  is  still  the  most 
shining  glory  of  our  native  land.  This  it  is  which  makes  us  stand 
close  round  you,  and  offer  up  such  prayers  for  your  triumph. 

“And  should  that  triumph  be  delayed  by  providence,  we  shall 


4i8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


remain  constant  in  our  resolution  of  assisting  you  to  our  utmost,  of 
fighting  with  you  and  for  you  at  the  cost  of  our  lives. 

‘‘ Holy  Father,  accept  this  humble  expression  of  our  sentiments, 
which  are  those  of  the  Italian  people.  Bless  all  who  are  here  present. 
Fortified  by  that  benediction  they  shall  remain  ever  stainless  for  the 
glory  and  welfare  of  our  afflicted  country,  for  the  shame  and  defeat 
of  the  enemies  of  God  and  of  his  Church.” 

The  answer  was  the  unstudied  response  of  the  pontiff’s  heart  to 
words  and  acts  which  stirred  its  every  pulse.  ^^They  have  said  that  I 
hate  Italy  ! No  ! I could  never  be  the  enemy  of  Italy.  I have  ever 
loved  her,  ever  blessed  her,  ever  sought  her  welfare.  God  knows 
what  tears  I have  shed,  what  prayers  I have  poured  forth,  what  un- 
ceasing supplication  I still  make  for  our  Italy. 

Let  us  even  now,  all  together,  beseech  the  divine  goodness  for 
her.  Let  us  pray  that  her  leaders  may  receive  light  from  on  high. 
They  have  labored  to  found  her  unity ; but  how  can  unity  spring 
from  selfish  pride  ? There  can  be  no  blessing  on  a unity  which 
immolates  charity  and  justice,  which  tramples  on  the  rights  of  all, 
on  those  of  God’s  ministers  as  well  as  on  those  of  his  faithful  people. 

They  create  enemies  for  themselves  on  every  side  ; they  set  the 
whole  world  against  them.  But  what  is  most  terrible  is  that  they 
make  an  enemy  of  God. 

‘^How  can  I help  being  moved  by  your  demonstrations  of  love, 
by  these  sentiments  of  devotion  which  you  bear  to  me  from  the  hun- 
dred cities  of  Italy  ? Yes,  I know  that  the  majority  are  with  you  ; 
and  that  knowledge  makes  my  soul  overflow  with  consolation  and 
love  and  gratitude. 

^^I  bless  the  subscribers  to  this  offering,  as  well  as  their  families. 
I bestow  on  yourselves  and  your  families  a special  blessing.  If 
among  your  dear  ones  any  should  ever  be  found — father,  son,  or 
brother — who  may  be  led  away  by  the  seduction  of  the  current  fal- 
lacies, may  this  blessing  bring  him  back  to  the  right  path  ! Let  it 
accompany  you  in  all  your  ways  ; on  your  journey  homeward,  and 
all  through  life  to  your  dying  day.  Should  it  so  befall  that  in  your 
latest  hour  all  should  forsake  you,  may  this  blessing  be  with  you  and 
comfort  you  ! Yes,  yes ; I know  it,  the  memory  of  this  day  shall 
ever  bring  you  strength  and  serenity  and  peace  ! 

'^I  bless  this  our  native  land,  the  fruitful  mother  of  saints,  which 
has  given  to  the  Church  and  to  heaven  so  many  spiritual  heroes.  I 
beseech  the  God  of  our  fathers,  that  the  ancient  faith,  which  was  her 


Charity  Crowning  the  Ce7itenary. 


419 


chief  glory,  may  never  depart  from  her.  Once  more  let  my  bless- 
ing be  on  you  all  and  your  dear  ones,  as  the  earnest  of  all  earthly 
prosperity  ; and  may  the  sweet  joys  of  our  meeting  be  only  a fore- 
taste of  the  eternal  delights  ! ” 

And  so  that  great  fatherly  soul,  all  through  these  long  weeks,  and, 
seemingly,  weary  days  of  unceasing  toil,  continued  to  glow,  to  burn, 
to  shed  around  light  and  warmth  and  untold  blissful  influences, 
like  a great  lamp  in  tlie  house  of  God,  which  an  invisible  angelic 
hand  fed  from  some  hidden  store.  The  enraptured  Eomans,  al- 
though so  well  accustomed  to  all  that  is  most  beautiful  in  art  and 
most  magniflcent  in  celebrations,  could  not  tear  themselves  away 
from  the  interior  of  St.  Peter’s  on  the  evening  of  the  28th  of  June, 
and  all  through  the  following  day,  and  the  succeeding  night,  whose 
artiflcial  splendors  shamed  the  most  brilliant  sky  of  Italy.  E un 
'paradiso!  ^‘It  is  a paradise!”  would  burst  continually  from  the 
lips  of  the  crowd  of  worshipers.  But  even  when  the  last  light  went 
out  on  the  dome  of  St.  Peter’s,  and  nothing  shone  in  the  interior 
gloom  but  the  perpetual  glimmer  of  the  lamp  before  the  Mystic 
Presence,  when  that  centennial  week  in  Eome  was  only  a memory, 
the  face,  the  smile,  the  glowing  words,  the  inspired  person  of  Pius 
IX.  remained  an  ever-present  and  living  reality  to  the  souls  of 
all  who  had  hung  on  his  lips  during  these  days. 

On  the  7th  of  July  the  solemnities,  civil  and  religious,  were 
brought  to  a close  by  a touching  ceremony.  One  hundred  dower 
portions  were  to  be  drawn  by  lot  among  the  fortuneless  maidens  of 
Eome.  Oue  hundred  young  girls  of  blameless  life,  who  might  else 
have  been  thrown  in  the  way  of  worse  than  poverty,  were  made  rich 
and  happy.  They  were  only  a few  among  the  thousands  to  whom 
Pius  IX.  was  the  lively  image  of  God’s  helpful  providence. 

Three  chapters  more  must  crown  what  may  be  yet  said  of  the 
living,  embracing  the  whole  of  the  next  decade. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 


Gaeibaldiait  Campaigh"  agaikst  Ro^e — Defeat  at  Mentana 
— Pius  IX.  urges  the  Preparations  for  the  Council — His 
Motive  not  a Definition  of  Pontifical  Infallibility, 
BUT  THE  Intellectual  and  Moral  Well-being  of  Chris- 
tendom— The  Citadel  of  Truth  to  be  Impregnable  to 
Modern  Assailants — First  Consultations  about  a Gen- 
eral Council — Commission  of  Direction — Measures  for 
Ascertaining  the  Needs  of  all  Countries — Imputation 
OF  Personal  Pride,  how  unjust  to  Pius  IX. — Dawn  of 
the  ‘^Old  Catholic’’  Conspiracy  preceded  the  Pope’s 
Design — Dollinger’s  Career,  Position,  Influence — He 

BECOMES  THE  DEADLY  FOE  OF  THE  UlTRAMONTANES — He  RE- 
SOLVES TO  USE  THE  Bavarian  Government  against  the 
Papacy — Bull  of  Indiction  or  Convocation — The  Pope’s 
Purpose  clearly  Manifested — Invitation  to  the  Ori- 
entals— To  Protestants  and  Non-Catholics — The  Pope’s 
Golden  Jubilee  of  Priesthood — Dollinger  begins  his 
Crusade  in  the  Press  against  the  Council — The  Pope 

MADE  TO  APPEAR  THE  TOOL  OF  THE  CURIA  AND  THE  JESUITS 

— The  Jesuits  held  up  as  the  worst  Enemies  of  Church 
AND  State — All  this  Hostility  inspired  by  a Calumny  of 
Janus” — Peremptory  Proofs — The  Discussion  of  Pon- 
tifical Infallibility  forced  upon  the  Council — The 
Final  Issue. 

September,  1867-July,  1870 

''VrO  sooner  had  the  multitude  of  pilgrims  disappeared  from 
-T-M  Eome  than  the  revolutionists  began  to  plan  the  means  of 
getting  possession  of  the  city  without  delay.  Garibaldi  was,  indeed, 
living  on  his  little  island  of  Caprera,  and  was  so  far  an  object  of  sus- 
picion to  the  Florentine  authorities  that  they  took  care  he  should 
excite  no  trouble  within  the  provinces  annexed  to  the  kingdom  of 
Italy.  It  was  otherwise  with  Eome  and  the  very  limited  territory 

420 


Why  the  CEciimenical  Council  was  Convoked,  421 

now  left  to  the  Pope.  It  was  the  interest,  and  therefore  the  wish, 
of  the  Piedmontese  rulers  now  goTerning  Italy  from  Florence,  that 
Garibaldi  should  give  them  as  soon  as  possible  a pretext  for  sending 
their  troops  to  the  very  gates  of  Rome. 

In  the  last  days  of  September  Garibaldi’s  two  sons  appeared  sud- 
denly near  Rome  with  numerous  and  well-appointed  bodies  of  their 
volunteers.  They  disarmed  the  little  garrison  of  Viterbo,  and  be- 
gan ‘‘to  live  on  the  people,”  pillaging  and  desecrating  the  churches, 
expelling  from  convents  and  monasteries  their  inmates,  and  appro- 
priating to  themselves  every  object  of  any  value  found  therein. 

In  October  Garibaldi  himself  landed  at  Leghorn,  and  was  soon  in 
the  Sabine  Mountains  at  the  head  of  the  principal  body  of  invaders, 
the  Piedmontese  or  Italian  army  everywhere  crossing  the  frontier  a 
little  behind  the  Garibaldians,  in  order  to  take  possession  of  every 
foot  of  ground  gained  by  the  latter.  At  the  same  time  several  bold 
attempts  were  made  by  these  to  get  into  Rome  by  small  squads,  and 
considerable  quantities  of  revolvers  and  explosives  were  thus  clan- 
destinely introduced.  Garibaldi  obtained  possession  of  Monte  Ro- 
tondo  on  the  26th  of  October,  and  on  the  30th  advanced  at  the  head 
of  about  5,000  men  to  within  a mile  of  Rome.  A body  of  French 
troops  having  arrived  in  Rome  to  protect  it,  the  Pontifical  Zouaves, 
led  by  Baron  de  Charette,  attacked  the  invaders  at  Mentana  on  No- 
vember the  3d,  defeated  them,  and  compelled  them  to  withdraw. 

Napoleon  III.  did  not  dare  to  outrage  public  opinion  so  far  as  to 
permit  the  Piedmontese  and  their  allies  to  set  at  naught  the  stipula- 
tions of  the  convention  of  September,  and  the  Italian  troops  re- 
treated beyond  the  frontier  to  bide  their  time. 

Meanwhile  the  sovereign  pontiff  was  most  intent  on'  pushing  for- 
ward the  preparations  for  the  (Ecumenical  Council.  In  a simple 
biography  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  room  for  a satisfactory  ac- 
count of  an  event  of  such  extraordinary  magnitude  as  this.  Never- 
theless, the  whole  design  of  the  council  of  the  Vatican — the  first 
thought  of  convening  it,  the  choice  of  subjects  to  be  submitted  to  it 
for  discussion  and  final  decision,  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  its 
labors  by  religion  and  civil  society — are  all  so  thoroughly  the  con- 
ception and  the  work  of  the  pontiff  himself,  that  a brief  and  preg- 
nant narrative  of  the  whole  must  be  given  here. 

One  impression  must  be  removed  at  the  outset  from  the  reader’s 
mind.  It  has  been  said — and  the  assertion  has  been  most  indus- 
triously repeated  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic — that  the  sole  or 


422 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


chief  purpose  of  Pius  IX.  in  convening  a general  council,  was  to 
have  the  doctrine  of  pontifical  infallibility  solemnly  defined  therein. 
This  injurious  notion  was  first  set  afloat  by  the  Munich  school  of 
theologians,  at  the  head  of  which  was  Dr.  Dollinger,  and  thence 
propagated  all  over  the  world  by  the  anti-Catholic  press. 

To  no  one  more  than  Pius  IX.  himself  was  it  evident,  that  the 
supreme  and  final  judgments  of  the  Holy  See  in  matters  of  doctrine 
and  morals  were  regarded  and  accepted  as  infallible  by  the  whole 
body  of  the  episcopate,  by  the  entire  fold  of  Christ.  Xo  one  among 
the  successors  of  the  fisherman  had  ever  seen  so  many  bishops  as- 
sembled together  in  one  place,  as  Pius  had  seen  in  Rome  in  June, 
1867,  and  they  had,  without  a single  exception,  yielded  the  most 
complete  assent  to  his  doctrinal  decisions.  He  had  defined  the  doc- 
trine of  the  immaculate  conception  in  December,  1854,  and  all  had 
joyously  subscribed  to  it,  even  Bishop  Dupanloup,  the  most  illus- 
trious and  to  the  end  the  most  conscientious  upholder  of  modem 
Gallicanism.  In  1867  he  had  promulgated  anew  in  Rome  to  the  as- 
sembled bishops  the  doctrinal  judgments  summarized  and  classified 
in  the  Syllabus,’^  giving  Ibis  collective  judgment  as  ‘^the  rule  of 
their  teaching  in  future ; ’’  and  all  had  acquiesced  most  unani- 
mously. In  the  beautiful  address  presented  to  him  by  the  five  hun- 
dred bishops  on  July  the  1st,  prepared  and  worded  as  it  was  with 
extreme  care,  and  discussed  with  such  extraordinary  diligence  by  the 
committee  appointed  to  draw  it  up,  as  well  as  by  the  general  body 
these  represented,  there  is  one  passage,  among  others  (page  415), 
which  would  seem  to  any  lawyer  not  a theologian  a formal  and  ex- 
plicit profession  of  faith  in  the  Pope’s  official  infallibility.  The 
word  ‘‘infallible ” was  not,  indeed,  to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  ad- 
dress ; but  it  had  been  employed  again  and  again  in  the  original 
draught,  and  was  only  rejected  in  the  revision  because  the  bishops 
had  not  been  convened  in  council  at  all,  and  now  that  a geheral 
council  was  announced  and  was  soon  to  assemble,  they  deemed  it 
improper  to  anticipate  any  action  which  might  therein  be  taken  on 
the  divine  prerogatives  of  the  pontifical  office,  as  on  all  that  pertains 
to  the  doctrine  on  the  Church  of  Christ. 

No  Pope  had  ever  so  many  practical  proofs  of  the  general  belief 
among  his  brother-bishops  in  the  infallibility  attached  to  his  teaching 
office.  And  most  certainly  it  was  with  no  thought  of  having  that 
belief  discussed  and  defined  that  Pius  was  solicitous  to  assemble  a 
general  council. 


Reform  and  Moral  Progress  alone  aimed  at,  423 


"We  have  seen,  in  perusing  the  various  acts  of  his  pontificate,  how 
thoroughly  his  mind  was  engrossed  from  the  beginning  with  the  de- 
sire  of  having  pastors  and  people  throughout  the  Catholic  world  well 
grounded  in  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  so  well  acquainted 
with  the  forms  and  fallacies  of  the  philosophy  and  science  of  the  age, 
as  to  be  able  to  discern  clearly  and  to  refute  victoriously  error  under 
its  every  shape  and  disguise. 

The  attentive  reader  of  his  first  encyclical,  published  in  November, 
184:6,  will  be  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  the  one  object  aimed 
at  in  that  most  priestly  and  most  Christian  utterance,  is  .to  make  of 
every  minister  of  religion  a ^Hrue  man  of  God,”  so  highly  educated 
that  the  world  around  may  get  from  his  lips  a perfect  knowledge  of 
all  truth,  and  so  well  trained  to  virtue  that  his  life  shall  he  truth  in 
action;  to  make  of  every  Christian  a ^^true  child  of  God,”  able  to 
render  an  account  of  the  faith  that  is  in  him  and  to  defend  it,  and 
demonstrating  the  living  efiicacy  of  that  faith  by  the  light  of  saintly 
deeds.  This  is  the  burden  of  every  solemn  teaching  addi'essed  by 
Pius  IX.  to  the  bishops  or  the  entire  Church  all  through  his  pontifi- 
cate. As  age  accumulates  the  lessons  and  warnings  of  experience, 
as  political  revolution  and  religious  and  social  error,  increase  the 
dangers  which  threaten  Christendom  and  the  darkness  which  hangs 
over  Eome,  this  twofold  purpose  assumes  an  all-absorbing  import- 
ance in  his  mind. 

The  nineteenth  century  was  a new  era.  Old  political  forms  were 
passing  away ; the  laws  and  institutions  which  had  been,  from  the 
remotest  historical  time,  regarded  as  the  foundations  of  the  social 
and  moral  world,  were  so  shaken  and  imperiled  by  the  intellectual 
upheaval,  that  the  ancient  landmarks  of  truth  and  error  were  being 
daily  obliterated  more  and  more. 

The  Church  of  Christ,  to  which  had  been  made  the  divine  promise 
that  she  could  never  cease  to  be,  and  never  be  otherwise  than  unerr- 
ing in  her  teaching,  must  remain  unmoved  amid  the  general  wreck 
and  change ; and  her  supreme  pastor,  amid  this  new  confusion  of 
tongues,  must  raise  his  voice  above  the  din  and  the  storm,  and  pro- 
claim anew  ^Hhe  words  of  eternal  life.” 

It  was  time,  when  a false  materialism,  usurping  impudently  the 
name  of  Science,  renewed  all  the  ancient  errors  of  the  Grecian  and 
the  Persian  philosophies,  that  the  Church  of  Christ  should  proclaim 
in  a new  and  complete  and  more  scientific  form  the  whole  body  of 
revealed  doctrine  on  God,  man,  and  the  world,  visible  and  invisible. 


424 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


clearly  pointing  out  the  relations  between  the  natural  and  super- 
natural orders,  between  faith  and  reason,  between  the  Church  and 
civil  society,  between  the  temporal  and  the  eternal. 

Natural  science  and  mental  philosophy  were  changing  their  meth- 
ods ; locomotion  on  sea  and  land  was  in  course  of  transformation  ; the 
very  art  of  war  was  in  a kind  of  second  infancy,  where  everything 
was  tentative,  novel,  uncertain,  and  ever  changing. 

The  Church  was  the  citadel  of  truth  here  below,  ever  subject  to 
attack,  assailed  by  old  errors  with  new  shapes,  and  armed  with  novel 
weapons  of  attack  and  defense.  It  behooved  every  child  of  the 
Church  living  in  the  midst  of  this  unceasing  conflict,  to  be  well 
acquainted  with  the  foes  he  had  to  meet,  and  to  be  able  to  contend 
with  them  on  their  own  ground  and  with  their  own  weapons. 

This  conception  of  modern  life  and  modern  society  was  ever  before 
the  mind  of  Pius  IX.  He  knew,  how  in  the  beginning  of  a new 
historical  era,  the  human  race  being  commanded  to  spread  them- 
selves over  the  untilled  earth,  had  wished  to  build  a tower  which  was 
to  be  a monument  of  pride  and  a witness  of  their  resistance  to  the 
divine  command. 

But  he — the  vicar  of  Christ,  the  father  of  regenerated  humanity — 
in  the  midst  of  the  rising  deluge  of  pride,  disorder,  anarchy,  and 
licentiousness,  resolved  to  build  up  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  race  the 
ediflce  of  Catholic  dogma,  in  a form  so  complete,  so  beautiful,  that 
the  whole  earth  must  admire  it  and  exclaim  that  the  hand  of  God  is 
there ! 

True,  at  his  advanced  age  he  could  scarcely  hope  for  more  than 
the  consolation  of  opening  the  general  council,  and  laying  the  first 
stones  of  the  grand  doctrinal  structure  he  contemplated.  But  the 
work  would  go  on  after  him.  Pius  dies ; but  Peter  is  ever  living  and 
teaching. 

Already,  in  March,  1865,  the  Pope  held  a consultation  with  the 
cardinals  about  the  necessity  or  expediency  of  convening  such  a 
council.  Thirteen  of  the  number  were  in  favor  of  so  doing,  and  one 
only  against  it.  This,  however,  was  not  the  first  step  in  that  direc- 
tion, as  the  entire  question  had  been,  before  this,  submitted  to  the 
men  judged  most  eminent  for  learning  and  wisdom,  each  of  whom 
sent  his  answer,  with  its  motives,  to  the  Holy  Father.  This  first 
preliminary  was  only  to  ascertain  whether  the  sovereign  pontiff 
should  or  not  make  the  matter  one  of  serious  deliberation  with  the 
Sacred  College.  After  the  meeting  of  March  the  2d,  1865,  a com- 


Thorough  Work  of  Preparation, 


425 


mission  of  five  cardinals  was  formed,  who  were  to  consider  whether 
the  assembling  of  the  council  were  necessary  or  opportune,  whether 
the  Catholic  sovereigns  should  he  consulted,  and  certain  bishops  of 
various  nations  communicated  with  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
what  matters  relating  to  the  Church  in  general,  and  to  certain  coun- 
tries in  particular,  should  be  submitted  to  the  council. 

When  they  had  given  in  their  answer  as  to  the  expediency  of  con- 
voking a general  council,  the  Pope  formally  instituted  a Commis- 
sion of  Direction,”  composed  of  cardinals,  assisted  by  a number  of  the 
ablest  theologians  and  canonists  in  the  Church ; and  they  formed 
into  four  sub-committees  or  sections,  to  which  was  allotted  the  dis- 
cussion of  all  questions  pertaining  to  doctrine,  politico-ecclesiastical 
or  mixed  questions,  missions  and  the  Oriental  churches,  and  disci- 
pline. These  sections  assembled  in  the  special  offices  in  Eome 
devoted  to  the  matters  which  had  the  closest  affinity  with  the  sub- 
jects intrusted  to  themselves,  the  section  on  doctrine  in  the  Holy 
Office,  that  on  missions  in  the  Propaganda,  that  on  mixed  questions 
in  the  office  of  the  Congregation  of  Ecclesiastical  Affairs,  and  that  on 
discipline  had  its  center  in  the  Congregation  of  Bishops  and  Regulars. 
On  April  the  10th  a circular  letter,  by  order  of  the  Holy  Father,  was 
sent  to  thirty-six  bishops,  esteemed  the  most  learned  and  the  most 
experienced  in  government,  enjoining  them  to  send  a list  of  the 
subjects  which,  in  their  judgment,  ought  to  be  discussed  in  the 
council.  Similar  letters  were  also  sent  to  the  prelates  of  the  Ori- 
ental churches. 

One  must  see  how  little  this  mode  of  proceeding  argued  in  the 
Holy  Father  anything  like  personal  vanity,  or  arrogance,  or  that 
arbitrary  way  of  doing  things  which  might  be  natural  to  persons  who 
are  not  bound  to  consult  others.  This  conscientious  and  careful 
investigation  of  the  real  needs  of  the  Church  in  every  land  and  in  a 
given  epoch,  had  its  result  and  reward  in  bringing  speedily  to  Rome 
answers  which  thoroughly  enlightened  the  Pope  and  his  fellow- 
laborers  om  every  topic  that  was  most  important. 

One  passage,  quoted  by  Cardinal  Manning,*  throws  light  on  the 
source  of  opposition  in  Germany.  There  are  very  few,”  the  writer 
of  the  letter  says,  ‘^who  at  this  day  impugn  the  prerogative  of  the 
Roman  pontiff ; and  this  they  do,  not  in  virtue  of  theological  rea- 
sons, but  with  the  intention  of  affirming  the  liberty  of  science  with 


♦ Tke  True  Story  of  the  Vatican  Council,”  iii. 


426 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


greater  safety.  It  seems  that  with  this  view  a school  of  theologians 
has  sprung  up  in  Bayaria,  at  Munich,  who  in  all  their  writings  have 
principally  before  them,  by  the  help  of  dissertations,  to  lower  the 
Apostolic  See,  its  authority,  its  mode  of  goyemment,  by  throwing 
contempt  upon  it,  and  by  attacking,  aboye  all,  the  infallibility  of 
Peter  teaching  ex  cathedral 

The  controlling  intellect  in  this  Munich  school  of  theologians,” 
was  Dr.  John  Joseph  Ignatius  yon  Dollinger,  who  counted  as  his 
pupils  many  of  the  most  distinguished  churchmen  and  statesmen  in 
Germany,  and  whose  influence  and  authority  as  a Catholic  writer 
extended  far  beyond  the  yery  wide  circle  of  his  own  pupils.  He  had 
made  himself  dear  to  Catholics  by  his  early  works  on  history  and 
theology,  and  had  represented  Catholic  interests  in  the  parliament  at 
Frankfort  in  1848.  But  there  seems  to  haye  ended  his  career  as 
an  orthodox  member  of  the  Church.  His  ambition  and  his  self-loye 
were  wounded  by  the  opposition  he  met  with  from  the  foremost 
members  of  the  hierarchy.  His  anxiety  to  reconcile  what  he  thought 
the  claims  of  science  with  the  authoritatiye  teaching  of  the  Church, 
his  wish  to  stand  well  with  the  Liberals  of  Germany,  brought  him 
into  collision  with  that  conseryatiye  Catholic  opinion  which  justly 
held,  that  this  false  Liberalism  meant  indifference  as  to  all  religious 
doctrines,  and  the  enslayement  of  the  Church  by  the  State. 

With  the  first  announcement  of  the  Pope’s  intention  to  conyoke  a 
general  council,  began  a systematic  opposition  on  the  part  of  Dol- 
linger and  his  school.  He  had  been  appointed  in  1868,  by  the  King 
of  Bayaria,  Councilor  of  State  for  life,  retaining  his  position  in  the 
XJniyersity  of  Munich,  as  well  as  that  of  Superior  Court  Chaplain. 
Of  the  Catholic  statesmen  who  surrounded  the  King  of  Bayaria,  the 
most  influential,  like  Prince  Chlodwig  Hohenlohe,  were  deeply  im- 
bued with  that  form  of  Gallicanism  which  aimed  at  limiting  to  the 
utmost  the  authority  of  the  Holy  See  oyer  national  churches,  and  of 
increasing  in  proportion  the  authority  of  the  State  oyer  all  ecclesias- 
tical establishments.  From  this  enlargement  of  the  prerogatiyes  of 
the  secular  power  with  respect  to  the  ecclesiastical,  there  was  only  a 
narrow  step  to  Cfesarism,  or  the  complete  subjection  of  the  Church 
to  the  temporal  ruler. 

Since  1860  it  was  painfully  eyident  that  Dr.  Dollinger  aimed  at 
lowering,  decrying,  and  destroying  the  papal  power.*  The  idea  that 


* See  Ills  Kirche  und  Kirchen,  Papsthum  und  Kirchenstaat,  Munich,  18G1. 


The  Bull  of  Convocation, 


427 


the  Jesuits  were  ruining  the  Church,  and  placing  her  in  opposition 
to  all  true  science  and  true  progress,  became  a monomania  with  the 
great  professor,  and  he  found  among  his  supporters  hut  too  many 
who  fed  his  morbid  fancies  and  industriously  fostered  his  prejudices. 

This  man  was  so  circumstanced,  at  the  moment  Pius  IX.  was 
zealously  preparing  everything  which  might  promote  the  unity  of 
all  Christian  minds  and  hearts  through  a harmonious  general  coun- 
cil, that  he  could  use  the  whole  power  and  influence  of  the  Bavarian 
government,  either  as  a means  of  preventing  the  meeting  of  the 
counci],  or,  at  least,  of  so  dividing  the  bishops  among  themselves 
as  to  destroy  the  moral  effect  of  any  great  doctrinal  decision  or 
disciplinary  reform  arrived  at ; with  what  success  we  shall  see  pre- 
sently. 

All  through  1867  and  1868,  in  spite  of  the  pressure  of  business 
caused  by  the  centenary  and  of  the  intense  anxiety  arising  from  the 
Garihaldian  invasion,  and  the  annoyances  and  dangers  of  the  near 
proximity  of  Piedmontese  rule,  the  Holy  Father  did  not  relax  his 
labor  of  preparation  for  the  council.  The  state  of  religion  in  the 
old  European  countries,  in  North  and  South  America,  the  avenues 
opening  to  missionary  enterprise  in  Australia,  Japan,  China,  and 
India,  and  the  desire  of  providing  efficient  and  abundant  workmen 
for  the  great  harvest  of  souls,  absorbed  him  whom  God  had  placed 
over  this  vast  fleld  of  labor. 

The  bull  of  indiction  or  convocation  of  the  council  was  issued  on 
June  the  29th,  1868,  appointing  the  council  to  open  in  the  Vatican 
Basilica  of  St.  Peter  on  December  8th,  1869. 

The  immediate  purpose  of  the  supreme  pontiff  in  assembling  the 
council  is  clearly  indicated  after  a few  preliminary  paragraphs. 

The  Koman  pontiffs,  in  the  discharge  of  the  office  divinely  con- 
fided to  them  in  the  person  of  Peter,  of  feeding  the  entire  flock  of 
Christ,  have  unweariedly  taken  on  themselves  the  most  arduous 
labors,  and  used  every  possible  means  in  order  to  have  the  various 
nations  and  races  all  over  the  earth  brought  to  the  light  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and,  by  truth  and  holiness,  to  eternal  life.  All  men  know  the 
zeal  and  unceasing  vigilance  with  wliich  these  same  Eoman  pontiffs 
have  kept  inviolate  the  deposit  of  faith,  discipline  among  the  clergy, 
purity  and  science  in  the  education  given  to  its  members,  the  holi- 
ness and  dignity  of  Christian  marriage ; how  they  studied  day  by 
day  to  promote  the  Christian  education  of  the  youth  of  both  sexes, 
to  foster  among  all  classes  the  love  of  religion,  the  practice  of  piety, 


428 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


and  purity  of  manners,  as  well  as  everything  that  might  conduce  to 
the  tranquillity,  the  good  order,  and  the  prosperity  of  civil  society. 

Whenever  great  troubles  arose,  or  serious  calamities  threatened 
either  the  Church  or  the  social  order,  the  Roman  pontiffs  judged  it 
opportune  to  convoke  general  councils,  in  order  that  with  the  ad- 
vice and  assistance  of  the  bishops  of  the  Catholic  world,  whom 
the  Holy  Ghost  hath  established  to  rule  the  Church  of  God,  they 
might,  in  their  united  wisdom  and  forethought,  so  dispose  everything 
as  to  define  the  doctrines  of  faith,  to  secure  the  destruction  of 
the  most  prevalent  errors,  defend,  illustrate,  and  develop  Catholic 
teaching,  restore  and  promote  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  the  refor- 
mation of  morals.” 

Ho  one,  at  the  present  time,  can  ignore  how  horrible  is  the  storm 
by  which  the  Church  is  assailed,  and  what  an  accumulation  of  evils 
afflict  civil  society.  The  Catholic  Church,  her  most  salutary  doc- 
trines, her  most  revered  power,  the  supreme  authority  of  this  Holy 
See,  are  all  assailed  and  trampled  upon  by  the  bitter  enemies  of  God 
and  man.  All  that  is  most  sacred  is  held  up  to  contempt ; ecclesiasti- 
cal property  is  made  the  prey  of  the  spoiler;  the  most  venerable  minis- 
ters of  the  sacraments,  men  most  eminent  for  their  Catholic  char- 
acter, are  harassed  by  untold-of  annoyances.  The  Religious  orders 
are  suppressed,  impious  books  of  every  kind  and  pestilential  publica- 
tions are  disseminated,  wicked  and  pernicious  societies  are  every- 
where and  under  every  form  multiplied.  The  education  of  youth 
is  in  almost  all  countries  withdrawn  from  the  clergy,  and,  what  is 
far  worse,  intrusted  in  many  places  to  teachers  of  error  and  evil. 

In  consequence  of  all  these  facts,  to  our  great  grief  and  that  of 
all  good  men,  and  to  the  irreparable  ruin  of  souls,  impiety,  corrup- 
tion of  morals,  unbridled  licentiousness,  the  contagion  of  depraved 
opinions  and  of  every  species  of  pestilential  vice  and  crime,  the  vio- 
lation of  all  laws,  human  and  divine,  prevail  everywhere  to  such 
an  extent  that  not  only  religion  but  human  society  itself  is  thrown 
into  the  most  deplorable  disorder  and  confusion.  . . . 

Wherefore,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  our  illustrious  prede- 
cessors, we  have  deemed  it  opportune  ...  to  call  together  a 
general  council,  as  we  had  long  desired  to  do.  . . . 

This  oecumenical  council  will  have  to  examine  most  diligently, 
and  to  determine  what  it  is  most  seasonable  to  do,  in  these  calami- 
to^js  times,  for  the  greatest  glory  of  God,  the  integrity  of  faith,  the 
splendor  of  divine  worship,  the  eternal  salvation  of  men,  the  dis- 


False  Motives  Imputed  to  the  Pope,  429 

cipline  of  the  regular  and  secular  clergy,  and  their  sound  and  solid 
education,  the  obseryance  of  ecclesiastical  laws,  the  reformation  of 
morals,  the  Christian  education  of  youth,  the  common  peace  and 
universal  concord.  With  the  divine  assistance  our  labors  must  also 
be  directed  toward  remedying  the  peculiar  evils  which  afflict  Church 
and  State  ; toward  bringing  back  into  the  right  road  those  who  have 
strayed  away  from  truth  and  justice ; toward  repressing  vice  and 
error,  in  order  that  our  holy  religion  and  her  saving  doctrines  may 
acquire  renewed  vigor  all  over  the  earth,  that  its  empire  may  be  re- 
stored and  increased,  and  that,  thereby,  piety,  modesty,  honor,  jus- 
tice, charity,  and  all  Christian  virtues  may  wax  strong  and  flour- 
ish for  the  glory  and  happiness  of  our  common  humanity.” 

Surely,  when  the  motives  for  convening  the  council,  and  the  na- 
ture of  the  work  it  should  have  to  do,  were  declared  so  explicitly  and 
so  minutely  detailed,  when,  especially,  this  crowning  labor  of  Pius 
IX. ’s  pontificate  was  so  evidently  the  continuation  of  all  his  past 
labors,  one  might  think  that  to  seek  dark  motives  and  to  assign  other 
labors  must  appear  preposterous.  And  yet  this  council,  planned 
and  prepared  in  the  full  light  of  publicity  for  a purpose  self-evident 
to  all  who  were  not  willfully  blind,  was  called  ‘‘a  conspiracy”  by  the 
Munich  theologians,  and  that  precisely  because  they  were  themselves 
conspiring  against  the  council,  the  Church,  and  the  Pope  ! 

On  September  the  8th  the  Holy  Father  addressed  a letter  of  invi- 
tation to  the  bishops  of  all  the  Oriental  churches  not  in  communion 
with  Rome.  It  was  a graceful  act  from  one  whose  whole  soul  was 
one  continuous  act  of  charity,  and  who  desired  nothing  so  much  in 
this  life  as  to  see  all  who  believe  in  Christ  united  in  the  profession 
of  the  full  and  perfect  truth,  and  seated  together  on  earth  in  the 
same  house  of  God,  at  the  same  table,  and  partaking  of  the  same 
divine  bread.  This  same  charity  impelled  Pius  IX.  to  issue,  on  the 
13th  of  September,  letters  of  invitation  to  all  Protestants  and  non- 
Catholics.  But  the  inveterate  prejudices  existing  among  these  sec- 
tarians prevented  them  from  understanding  the  charity  which  had 
impelled  the  Holy  Father  to  invite  them  to  reconsider  well  the 
grounds  of  separation  from  the  Roman  Church. 

In  Germany,  Counselor  Reinold  Baumgarten,  of  Constance,  and 
Wolfgang  Menzel,  of  Stuttgart,  both  Protestants,  strongly  urged  all 
their  co-religionists  to  accept  the  pontifical  invitation.  But  their 
voices  were  drowned  amid  the  chorus  of  denunciations  which  arose 
in  Germany  at  a signal  from  Munich. 


430 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


In  tlie  midst  of  these  active  preparations  and  noisy  discussions 
dawned  the  memorable  year  18G9  ; on  the  11th  of  April  fell  the  fif- 
tieth anniversary  of  Giovanni  Mastai’s  elevation  to  the  priesthood — 
his  first  golden  jubilee.”  But  very  few  among  his  predecessors  had 
the  happiness  of  celebrating  that  anniversary  while  seated  on  the 
chair  of  Peter.  It  is  a touching  anniversary  for  the  lowliest  priest 
among  the  many  thousands  who  minister  at  our  altars.  We  know, 
in  Christian  families  (for  the  celebration  is  inspired  by  Christian 
ideas  and  affections),  how  joyously  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
parents’  union  is  hailed,  and  how  kinsfolk  and  friends  vie  with  each 
other  in  offering  to  the  venerable  pair  the  homage  of  their  affection 
or  their  respect. 

The  priest’s  ordination  is  his  union  with  Christ’s  Church  forever. 
He  gives  his  heart  to  her  irrevocably.  And  the  joys  of  the  ‘^golden 
jubilee  of  priesthood  ” are  a something  extremely  touching  in  Catho- 
lic lands. 

Pius  IX.,  we  need  not  say  it,  was  loved  by  all  who  approached  him; 
and  what  Pope  had  ever  been  approached  by  so  many  persons — 
bishops,  priests,  sovereigns,  princes,  laymen  of  every  class  and  coun- 
try and  religion  ? 

Strange  to  say — yet,  why  strange  ? — it  was  in  Bavaria  that  the  en- 
thusiastic movement  originated,  and  which  soon  communicated  itself 
to  the  furthest  extremities  of  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  having  for 
its  object  a demonstration  of  love  toward  Pius  IX.  on  the  approach- 
ing anniversary  of  his  ordination.  It  began  in  Bamberg,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1868,  and  was  taken  up  by  all  the  Catholic  societies  throughout 
Germany.  The  offering  of  Peter’s  pence,  or  alms  of  some  kind,  to- 
ward the  Holy  Father’s  support,  had  begun  during  his  exile  in  Gaeta, 
and  was  revived  with  increased  zeal  since  1859.  But  the  offerings  of 
his  first  jubilee  year  were  dictated  by  a special  sentiment  of  filial 
love  and  generosity  It  was  an  old  man  of  seventy-seven  whom  all 
should  unite  in  honoring,  forgetful  for  the  moment  of  political  pas  • 
sions,  national  antipathies,  or  religious  animosity. 

Sovereigns  and  private  persons,  corporate  bodies  and  religious 
communities — the  high  and  the  lowly,  the  rich  and  the  poor — all 
took  a delight  in  laying  some  special  mark  of  reverence  and  love  at 
the  feet  of  the  common  parent.  The  King  of  Prussia — the  present 
Emperor — sent  a vase  of  precious  material  and  rarest  workmanship  ; 
for  King  William  at  that  time  reverenced  in  Pius  IX.  the  guardian 
of  all  great  and  sound  principles.  The  French  Empress  sent  a right 


Crusade  of  anus''  against  the  Council,  431 

royal  gift  of  money,  with  a purse  made  by  her  own  daughterly  hands  ; 
but  more  daughterly  still  was  the  exquisite  donation  sent  by  Madame 
Hardey,  the  Lady-Superior  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  at  Manhattan ville. 
New  York — a golden  fish  filled  with  American  gold,  the  contribution 
of  her  pupils,  and  a graceful  address  of  felicitation. 

The  three  Catholic  emperors  of  France  and  Austria  and  Brazil 
were  not  behindhand ; nor,  indeed,  were  the  non-Catholic.  Han- 
over, England,  Russia,  and  Turkey  had  words  of  kindly  courtesy  for 
the  most  venerable  of  existing  sovereigns. 

There  were,  besides,  numerous  deputations  from  every  country, 
with  bounteous  offerings  and  words  of  love  which  moved  the  Holy 
Father  to  tears ; but  most  welcome,  and  naturally,  were  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  country  nearest  and  dearest  to  him,  his  own  Italy. 
All  this  reminded  him  of  the  centenary,  but  it  was  only  the  bright 
forerunner  of  the  jubilee  of  1877. 

But  this  first  jubilee  did  not  pass  away  without  making  many 
others  happy  in  Rome  and  the  small  pontifical  territory.  There  was 
a general  amnesty,  and  the  completion  of  a much  needed  aqueduct, 
giving  Rome  an  additional  supply  of  wholesome  water  * and  the  mil- 
lion of  Roman  crowns  which  the  pious  generosity  of  his  children 
poured  into  his  treasury  enabled  him  to  found  an  agricultural  col- 
lege. 

He  needed  these  feasts  of  the  heart,  these  testimonies  of  reverence 
and  affection ; for  with  the  dawn  of  1869  began  in  Germany,  France, 
and  the  Low  Countries  a most  violent  campaign  against  the  council 
in  the  press,  in  the  universities,  and  in  diplomatic  circles.  Bol- 
linger had  begun  the  war  in  1868  by  calling  to  his  aid  the  most 
practiced  writers  of  his  party,  and  dividing  the  work  to  be  done 
among  them.  The  result  of  this  joint  labor  appeared  as  a series  of 
articles  in  the  Augsburg  Gazette,  all  tending  to  prove  from  eccle- 
siastical history  that  no  such  thing  as  an  infallible  Pope  ever  existed, 
and  to  prejudice  public  opinion  in  Germany  against  the  approach- 
ing council,  its  plenary  authority,  and  its  presumed  labors.  These 
articles  were  then  printed  in  book-form  under  the  title  of  Der  Papst 
und  das  Concil,  by  Janus.”  The  book  was  simultaneously  trans- 
lated into  English,  French,  and  Italian,  receiving  numerous  editions, 
and  doing  irreparable  mischief. 

The  pseudonym  thus  chosen  was  an  apt  one,  though  there  were 
but  few  in  Germany  for  whom  the  ^^double-faced”  mask  was  a 
mask  at  all ; for  if  the  far  greater  portion  of  Hr.  Bollinger’s  career 


432 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


pointed  toward  Rome  and  was  brightened  by  the  glories  of  Catholic 
truth,  his  road,  during  the  remaining  portion,  faced  in  the  opposite 
direction,  toward  that  unblessed  and  desolate  region  where  privileged 
apostates  are  condemned  to  wander  amid  the  sepulchers  of  their  own 
hopes,  haunted  by  the  ghosts  of  former  convictions. 

After  The  Pope  and  the  Council  ” soon  appeared  another  work. 

On  the  Reform  of  the  Roman  Church  in  her  Head  and  Members,” 
which  only  found  favor  with  men  who  sadly  needed  to  reform  their 
own  consciences.  Were  your  DOllingcrs,  and  Reinkens,  and  Pere 
Hyacinthes,  and  Von  Schultes  to  be  as  careful  as  the  lowly-minded 
head  of  the  Church  in  calling  themselves  to  account  daily,  in  his 
presence  who  will  judge  all,  for  their  own  aims  and  aspirations,  for 
the  obligations  left  unfulfilled,  and  the  talents  misapplied  or  buried 
away,  we  should  hear  but  little  of  these  hypocritical  cries  of  reform. 

It  was  in  very  truth  at  reform  of  the  deepest  and  most  searching  kind 
that  Pius  IX.  aimed ; it  was  the  hope  of  effecting  it  in  every  class 
within  the  Church  that  gave  him  such  untiring  energy  in  the  gigan- 
tic work  of  preparation.  And  no  one  who  reads  the  story  of  the 
Council  of  the  Vatican  in  the  original  documents,  the  voluminous 
and  authentic  records  of  the  congregations  and  commissions  created 
by  the  sovereign  pontiff  to  discuss  and  prepare  all  the  matters  to  be 
submitted  to  the  council,  but  must  deplore  the  heartless  hypocrisy 
and  the  perverse  obstinacy  which  inspired  such  works  as  those  just 
named,  as  well  as  the  political  events  which  arrested  the  great  work 
of  the  council  in  its  very  first  stage,  and  compelled  Pius  IX.  to  leave 
his  glorious  dream  unfulfilled.  What  would  he  not  have  accom- 
plished, if  the  ccuncil  he  had  assembled  had  been  permitted  to  pur- 
sue the  course  so  carefully  marked  by  the  pontiff,  the  Sacred  College, 
and  the  united  wisdom  and  learning  of  the  elite  of  the  Church,  labor- 
ing with  one  accord  in  the  various  congregations  on  dogma,  disci- 
pline, education,  etc.  ? 

The  storm  raised  against  him  personally,  against  the  Roman  curia 
(a  shadowy  and  undefined  assemblage  of  court  officials  supposed 
to  use  him  as  a tool),  against  the  Jesuits,  who  were  supposed  to 
govern  both  Pope  and  curia,  had  for  its  pretext  and  sole  motive 
power  the  fear  of  ‘^infallibility,”  for  the  defining  of  which  it  has  all 
along  been  said,  and  even  now  believed,  that  the  (Ecumenical  Coun- 
cil was  assembled.  Let  us,  before  we  advance  one  step  further  in 
the  brief  history  of  this  council,  settle  this  question  at  once  and  for- 
ever. 


Infallibility  thereby  Forced  on  Council,  433 

In  tlie  autumn  of  1875  the  author  had  to  prepare  for  the  sixteenth 
volume  of  the  ^‘American  Cyclopaedia”  an  article  on  this  same  sub- 
ject. After  months  of  careful  research,  and  repeated  consultation 
with  persons  who  had  been  present  in  the  council  and  shared  in  its 
labors,  he  wrote  as  follows:  ‘^On  December  the  2d  a prosynodal  or 
preparatory  assembly  of  all  the  prelates  in  Eome  was  held,  the  Pope 
presiding.  On  the  evening  of  the  7th  Pius  IX.  with  a numerous 
cortege  went  to  the  Church  of  the  Apostles  to  inaugurate  nine  days 
of  public  prayer  for  the  divine  light  on  the  approaching  delibera- 
tions. 

“With  the  first  break  of  dawn  on  the  8th,  the  artillery  of  the 
Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  the  bells  of  all  the  churches  in  Eome, 
pealed  forth.  By  6 o’clock  the  naves  of  St.  Peter’s  were  filled,  as 
well  as  the  piazza  and  the  streets  leading  to  it.  At  9 the  head  of  the 
procession  began  to  appear  on  the  square,  and  more  than  an  hour 
elapsed  before  it  could  reach  the  left  arm  of  the  transept,  which  had 
been  partitioned  o2  and  furnished  as  the  council  hall.  Mass  was 
celebrated  by  Cardinal  Patrizi,  vice-dean  of  the  Sacred  College,  and 
Bishop  Fessler,  of  St.  Polten,  in  Austria,  secretary  of  the  council, 
then  p'laced  the  book  of  the  Gospels  on  a throne  prepared  for  it  on  the 
altar.  . . . After  appropriate  devotional  services,  all  who  had 

not  a right  to  be  present  at  the  proceedings  of  the  session  left  the 
council  hall.  Two  decrees  only  were  promulgated,  the  one  declar- 
ing the  CEcumenical  Council  of  the  Vatican  duly  opened,  and  the 
other  appointing  the  next  public  session  to  be  held  on  January  the 
6th,  1870.  There  were  present  49  cardinals,  9 patriarchs,  4 pri- 
mates, 123  archbishops,  481  bishops,  6 privileged  abbots,  22  abbots- 
general,  and  29  superiors-general  of  religious  orders  ; in  all,  723  mem- 
bers of  the  council  by  right  or  by  invitation.  Seven  general  con- 
gregations (equivalent  to  “ committees  of  the  whole  ” in  parliamen- 
tary bodies)  were  held  between  December  the  8th  and  January  the 
6th,  and  were  employed  in  discussing  the  prepared  Schemata  (draft 
decrees)  and  in  electing  the  members  of  the  five  deputations  on 
Faith,  Discipline,  Missions,  Mixed  Questions,  and  Eites,  called  for 
by  the  Pope  in  his  letters  apostolic  of  November  the  27th. 

“The  deliberations  on  Schemata  began  on  December  the  30th, 
and  were  confined  to  questions  of  discipline.  It  became  clear  in  the 
first  days  of  January,  that  among  the  persons  connected  with  the 
various  deputations  and  commissions,  there  were  a few  who  did  not 
scruple  to  violate  the  oath  of  secrecy ; and  in  spite  of  the  admo- 


434 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


nition  to  the  members  of  the  council,  the  Aug  slur g Gazette  con- 
tinued to  publish  letters  from  its  Roman  correspondent  professing 
to  describe  the  most  secret  transactions  of  the  committees.  Still  no 
place  was  given  in  the  Schemata  to  the  question  of  infallibility  at  the 
beginning  of  Mar clP^ 

Why  is  this  question  of  fact  and  date  insisted  on  here  ? Because 

Janus,”  in  his  famous  pamphlet  published  early  in  1868,  made  all 
his  laborious  calumnies  culminate  in  the  assertion  that  in  the  pro- 
posed council  papal  infallibility  would  be  decreed  by  acclama- 
tion.” It  was  the  express  object  of  Dollinger  and  his  school,  and 
of  the  whole  army  of  writers  and  journalists  who  forthwith  repeated 
his  assertion,  and  supported  every  one  of  his  positions,  that  with 
the  Pope  it  was  a matter  of  personal  passion  to  have  this  question 
defined ; that  all  the  others  were  merely  of  secondary  importance, 
and  must  be  postponed  till  this  was  decided  ; that  every  imaginable 
species  of  moral  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  by  the  Roman  offi- 
cials and  the  curia  on  the  members  of  the  hierarchy  to  induce  them 
to  yield  in  this  to  the  will  of  the  Holy  Father ; in  one  word,  the 
Council  of  the  Vatican  was  to  be  convened  for  no  other  earthly  pur- 
pose but  to  declare  and  define  the  doctrine  of  the  official  infallibility 
of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter. 

In  a diplomatic  note  signed  by  Prince  Hohenlohe,  prime  minister 
of  Bavaria,  and  addressed  to  the  Bavarian  representatives  in  the 
European  courts,  it  is  affirmed  : The  only  dogmatic  thesis  which 
Rome  desires  to  have  decided  by  the  council,  and  which  the  Jesuits 
in  Italy  and  Germany  are  now  agitating,  is  the  question  of  the  Infal- 
libility of  the  Pope.”  It  is  now  knoAvn  that  this  letter  was  written 
by  Councilor  of  State  Dollinger,  and  the  motive  of  the  odious  pre- 
judice sought,  but  too  successfully,  to  be  created  against  the  Holy 
Father,  the  council,  and  the  Jesuits,  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  next 
sentence : This  pretension,  once  become  a dogma,  will  e\ddently 

have  a wider  scope  than  the  purely  spiritual  sphere,  and  will  become 
evidently  a political  question ; for  it  will  raise  the  power  of  the  sov- 
ereign pontiff,  even  in  temporal  matters,  above  all  the  princes  and 
peoples  of  Christendom.” 

Prince  Hohenlohe,  before  two  years  more  have  elapsed,  will  be- 
come vice-president  of  the  Imperial  German  Parliament,  and  will 
infiuence  Prince  Bismark  and  the  German  government  and  legis- 
lature so  far  as  to  make  this  question  of  infallibility,  conceived  in 
accordance  with  the  Dollinger  theology,  a cause  of  rupture  with  the 


Peremptory  Proofs, 


435 


Holy  See,  a reason  for  expelling  tlie  Jesuits  from  the  German  em- 
pire, and  a motive  for  going  even  beyond  Cavour  in  enslaving  and 
persecuting  the  Catholic  Church. 

Now,  it  is  imperative  that  it  should  be  made  certain  beyond  the 
possibility  of  denial,  whether  or  not  the  assertion  made  in  the  article 
on  the  Vatican  Council  be  true,  namely,  that  up  to  March,  1870, 
no  place  had  been  given  on  the  schemata,  or  draft-decrees,  to  the 
question  of  infallibility.  These  drafts  had  been  most  carefully  elab- 
orated, under  the  supervision  of  the  Commission  of  Direction,  by 
one  hundred  and  two  prelates  (cardinals,  archbishops,  and  bishops), 
theologians,  and  canonists,  selected  from  among  those  eminent  for 
learning  in  every  land.  Most  of  them  are  still  living,  and  many 
of  them  are  known  to  be  inopportunists,  or  persons  who  thought 
that . the  discussion  by  the  council  of  this  doctrine  of  infallibility, 
was,  at  that  time  and  under  the  circumstances,  not  wise  or  desirable. 

Since  1875  one  man,  the  most  eminent  among  the  bishops  of  the 
English-speaking  world  for  his  learning  and  his  eloquence — Cardinal 
Manning — has  given  to  the  world  ^‘The  True  Story  of  the  Vatican 
Council ; ” his  testimony  on  the  point  of  fact  under  consideration 
must  be  conclusive. 

‘^We  now  come,”  he  says,  ^^to  the  last  part  of  our  narrative  of 
the  events  before  the  assembling  of  the  council,  namely,  the  mat- 
ters to  be  discussed,  of  which  it  will  be  enough  to  give  a list.  They 
were  six  in  number  : 

^•(1.)  Schema  on  Catholic  doctrine  against  the  manifold  errors 
flowing  from  Rationalism. 

^^(2.)  Schema  on  the  Church  of  Christ. 

(3.)  Schema  on  the  Office  of  Bishops. 

‘^(4.)  Schema  on  the  Vacancy  of  Sees. 

(5.)  Schema  on  the  Life  and  Manners  of  the  Clergy. 

(6.)  Schema  on  the  Little  Catechism. 

‘^In  preparing  the  schema  on  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  con- 
sisted of  fifteen  chapters,  after  a full  treatment  of  the  body  of  the 
Church  the  commission  inevitably  came  to  treat  of  its  head.  Two 
chapters  were  prepared  : the  one  on  the  primacy  of  the  Roman  pon- 
tiff, the  other  on  his  temporal  power.  In  treating  of  the  primacy  it 
was  likewise  inevitable  that  the  commission  should  come  to  treat  of 
the  endowments  of  the  primacy,  and,  among  these  endowments, 
first  of  the  divine  assistance  promised  to  Peter  and  in  Peter  to  his 
successors  in  matters  of  faith,  or,  in  other  words,  of  the  infallibility. 


43^ 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


On  the  14th  and  21st  of  January,  1869,  the  commission  treated  of 
tlie  nature  of  the  primacy ; on  the  11th  of  February  it  reached  the 
doctrine  of  infallibility.  Two  questions  were  then  discussed  : the 
one,  1.  ‘ Whether  the  infallibility  of  the  Koman  Pontiff  can  be  de- 
fined as  an  article  of  faith  ; ’ the  other,  2.  ^ Whether  it  ought  to  be 
defined  as  an  article  of  faith.’  To  the  first  question  the  whole  com- 
mission unanimously  answered  in  the  affirmatiye ; to  the  second  all, 
but  one  only,  concurred  in  the  judgment  that  the  subject  ought  not 
to  be  proposed  to  the  Council  unless  it  were  demanded  by  the  bish- 
ops. The  words  of  this  judgment  run  as  follows  : Sententia  com- 
missionis  est,  nonnisi  ad  postulationem  episcoporum  rei  hiojus  pro- 
positionem  ah  Apostolica  Sede  faciendam  esse  (‘The  judgment  of 
the  commission  is,  that  this  subject  ought  not  to  be  proposed  by  the 
Apostolic  See  except  at  the  petition  of  the  bishops’).  The  one  dis- 
sentient consultor  was  an  inopportunist.  The  commission,  there- 
fore, never  completed  the  chapter  relating  to  the  infallibility. 

“ The  Commission  on  Doctrine  sat  for  twenty-seven  months,  and 
held  fifty-six  sessions,  in  which  time  it  completed  three,  and  only 
three,  schemata.  After  the  opening  of  the  Council  it  met  once  only  ; 
and  so  its  labors  ended. 

“ Two  observations  may  be  made  on  these  facts.  The  first  is  that 
now,  for  a second  time,  when  the  subject  of  infallibility  would, 
according  to  the  adversaries  of  the  council,  be  expected  to  take  the 
first  place,  it  was  deliberately  set  aside.  The  second  observ^ation  is 
that  Pius  IX.  had  neither  desire  nor  need  to  propose  the  defining  of 
his  infallibility.  Like  all  his  predecessors,  he  was  conscious  of  the 
plenitude  of  his  primacy.  He  had  exercised  it  in  the  full  assurance 
that  the  faith  of  Christendom  responded  to  his  unerring  authority  ; 
he  felt  no  need  of  any  definition.  It  was  not  the  head  of  the  Church 
nor  the  Church  at  large  that  needed  this  definition.  The  bishops 
in  1854,  1862,  1867  had  amply  declared  it.  It  was  the  small  num- 
ber of  disputants  who  doubted,  and  the  still  smaller  number  who 
denied,  that  the  head  of  the  Church  can  neither  err  in  faith  and 
morals,  nor  lead  into  error  the  Church  of  which  he  is  the  supreme 
teacher,  that  needed  an  authoritative  declaration  of  the  truth. 

“As  to  the  labors  of  the  other  sections,  on  Discipline,  on  Eeli- 
gious  Orders,  on  Missions  and  the  Oriental  Churches,  and  on  Kites, 
no  comment  need  be  made.  The  world  has  little  interest  in  them, 
and  takes  no  notice  of  them.  The  one  object  of  its  hostility  is  the 
definition  which  has  affirmed  the  divine  authority  of  the  Church.” 


European  and  A nierican  Press  Deceived  by us. " 437 


It  is  tlius  certain,  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  that  it  was  only 
on  February  the  11th,  1869,  that  the  committee  of  one  hundred  and 
two  theologians,  to  whom  was  intrusted  the  duty  of  drawing  up  the 
schemata,  had  come  in  due  course  to  treat  of  the  question  of  papal 
infallibility,  and  it  was  then  decided  by  them,  almost  unanimous- 
ly, that  the  Holy  Father  alone,  “at  the  demand  of  the  bishops,’’ 
should  introduce  this  subject  into  the  deliberations  of  the  council. 

Now,  it  would  be  a most  instructive  lesson  to  take  up  the  files  of 
any  one  of  our  great  daily  papers  for  1868,  1869,  and  1870,  and  to  see, 
in  the  telegraphic  news  items  transmitted  from  Europe,  the  letters 
of  “our  own  correspondent,”  the  extracts  quoted  from  the  leading 
journals  of  Great  Britain  and  the  continent,  and  the  editorial  col- 
umns themselves,  how  one  idea  stands  out  in  overshadowing  promi- 
nence, the  infallibility  about  to  be  defined  by  the  approaching  coun- 
cil, and  the  challenge  thereby  held  out  by  the  Pope  and  the  Catholic 
Church  to  the  governments  of  every  country  which  owned  Catholic 
subjects.  All  through  1868  Germany  rings  with  the  trumpet  tones 
of  warning  sounded  by  “Janus  France,  through  all  the  voices  of 
the  skeptic  press,  re-echoes  the  cry  of  alarm  in  the  ears  of  govern- 
ment and  people  ; the  masonic  journals  of  Belgium,  the  Jansenistic 
or  “Old  Catholic”  journals  of  Holland,  denounce  these  new  papal 
pretensions  as  the  climax  of  Eoman  arrogance  and  apostasy  from 
the  truth.  The  London  Times  throughout  these  years  was  the  faith- 
ful echo  of  the  Allgemeine  Zeitung  of  Augsburg,  and  our  free  and 
independent  American  press  was,  in  all  this,  but  the  reflex  of  the 
European. 

There  is  such  a thing  as  “the  persecution  of  public  opinion.” 
Opinion  is  a mighty  power,  and  at  its  bidding  in  our  day  more  than 
one  unjust  and  calamitous  war  has  been  made.  But  even  when  pub- 
lic opinion  does  not  load  cannon  with  grapeshot,  or  send  men  to  the 
torture  or  the  scaffold,  it  can  put  souls  on  the  rack,  it  can  destroy 
the  purest  reputation,  mar  the  noblest  undertakings,  misrepresent 
the  purest  intentions,  break  down  beneath  obloquy  the  strongest 
hearts,  and  darken  hopelessly  the  best  cause  to  which  man  could  de- 
vote his  life  and  death. 

Was  not  the  Council  of  the  Vatican  held  up  to  us  daily,  week  after 
week,  month  after  month  in  1869,  and  during  those  stormy  months 
of  1870,  as  an  assemblage  gotten  together  through  moral  compulsion 
for  the  one  insane  purpose  of  decreeing,  in  the  teeth  of  the  humili- 
ated majority  of  Catholics,  a doctrine  of  very  questionable  scriptural 


43S 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


authority,  and  solely  destined  to  glorify  the  spiritual  arrogance  of  an 
old  man,  about  to  be  stripped  of  every  vestige  of  temporal  power  ? 
What  indignation  was  lavished  upon  the  folly  of  the  court  of  Eome, 
which  thus  made  enemies  of  all  the  courts  in  Christendom,  at  the 
moment  when  friends  were  most  needed,  and  all  that  to  gratify  the 
Jesuits,  the  fanatical  Ultramontane  faction  ! 

And  now,  putting  dates  and  facts  together,  when  events  and  per- 
sons have  passed  into  the  jurisdiction  of  history,  we  must  conclude 
that  in  all  this  the  court  of  Eome,  the  Jesuits,  the  Catholic  hier- 
archy were  belied  most  atrociously  and  systematically. 

These  seven  hundred  and  twenty-three  prelates  of  all  ranks  who 
were  present  at  the  opening  of  the  Council  of  the  Vatican,  came 
there  for  the  same  holy  purpose  which  animated  the  chief  pastor  in 
summoning  them — to  promote  the  highest  interests  of  religion  and 
society,  to  make  the  cause  of  truth  itself,  infinitely  sacred  as  it  was 
in  their  eyes,  only  a means  toward  promoting  holiness  of  life,  the 
reign  of  all  the  social  charities,  and  the  solid  peace  of  Christendom. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  recount  or  even  recall  the  manner  in  which 
the  adverse  public  opinion  created  in  Germany,  and  propagated  by 
Bavaria  and  Italy,  succeeded  in  arraying  against  the  Holy  Father  and 
the  Church,  as  a religious  system,  all  the  governments  of  conti- 
nental Europe.  It  was  a clever  strategy  to  rouse  the  susceptibilities  • 
of  the  old  Gallican  magistracy  of  France.  For  France,  under  Na- 
poleon, Tvas  governed  by  lawyers,  and  in  France  every  lawyer,  even 
though  he  believe *not  in  Christ,  is  by  the  traditions  of  his  profes- 
sion a Gallican,  one  bound  to  resist  to  the  utmost  the  encroachments 
of  the  papal  power.  It  w’as  a stroke  of  genius  to  enlist  in  the  Old 
Catholic’-  or  Jansenistic  crusade,  not  only  the  infidels  and  revolu- 
tionists and  liberals,  but  the  governments,  and  with  these  all  who 
still  believed  in  the  mitigated  forms  of  clerical  Gallicanism  that  sur- 
vived the  great  revolution  and  the  first  Napoleonic  empire. 

It  was  a masterpiece  of  skill  in  Dollinger  to  get  such  a man  as 
Bishop  Maret  to  write  a 'work  as  heretical  as  those  of  Quesnel  or 
Antoine  Arnauld,  Bishop  Dupanloup  to  break  a lance  in  honor  of 
bad  history  against  Manning’s  impenetrable  shield,  and  such  an  im- 
pulsive and  liberty-loving  soul  as  Montalembert  to  write,  almost  from 
his  death-bed,  an  indorsement  of  the  detestable  Lay  Address”  of 
Coblentz.  Theirs  were  only  passing  aberrations  in  minds  made  to 
see  danger  for  the  Church  in  designs  which  only  existed  in  the  brain 
of  her  detractors.  Montalembert  protested  with  his  latest  breath  that 


The  Admirable  Labors  of  the  CounciL  439 

he  was  the  child  of  the  Church,  and  would  accept  with  the  docility 
of  a babe  her  every  decision  ; that  he  was  the  son  of  the  Holy  Father, 
and  would  never  gainsay  a solemn  utterance  of  his.  As  to  Maret,  let 
him  pass,  like  a coin  of  dubious  quality,  between  two  gold  pieces  of 
undoubted  purity  and  worth. 

It  has  been  sedulously  represented  that  men  like  Dupanloup  and 
the  martyred  Archbishop  Darboy,  of  Paris,  and  so  many  others,  who 
judged  the  agitation  of  this  question  to  be  inopportune  and  fraught 
with  possible  calamity  to  the  Church,  were  not  disposed  to  admit 
that  the  doctrine  of  infallibility,  as  it  was  ultimately  defined,  was 
founded  in  Scripture.  But  Archbishop  Darboy  had  taught  in  the 
schools  of  theology  this  very  doctrine  as  Catholic  and  divine,  though 
he  feared  a persecution  as  the  consequence  of  defining  it  under  exist- 
ing circumstances ; and  both  he  and  Bishop  Dupanloup  had  with 
mind  and  heart  joined  in  the  magnificent  address  of  the  Episcopate 
at  the  centenary,  in  which  all  professed  to  believe  that  Peter  spoke 
by  the  mouth  of  Pius.” 

It  is  then  most  certain  that  the  question  of  infallibility  was  forced 
upon  the  council  by  the  concerted  attacks  of  the  anti-Catholic  press 
of  Europe,  and  the  threatening  attitude  assumed  by  the  governments 
most  interested  in  protecting  the  council  from  every  infiuence  ad- 
verse to  the  perfect  fi’eedom  of  its  members.  Had  the  governments 
thus  guarded  from  outside  moral  violence  the  deliberations  of  the 
most  august  assemblage  ever  beheld  in  Christendom,  there  could 
have  been  no  discussion  whatever  of  this  peculiar  doctrine  before  the 
month  of  July  came  to  suspend  the  sessions  of  the  council,  and  to 
this  day  there  would  have  been  no  conciliary  definition  given  on  it. 

As  it  was,  providence  permitted  that  the  very  efforts  made  by  the 
enemies  of  the  papacy  and  the  Church  should  issue  in  effecting  the 
very  thing  they  aimed  at  preventing. 

But  it  must  not  be  imagined  for  a moment  that  the  noise  made 
outside  the  council  hall  by  the  vehement  controversies  about  infalli- 
bility did  or  could  interfere  with  the  orderly  and  legitimate  work  of 
the  assembled  fathers.  The  first  schema  ‘^on  Catholic  faith  and  the 
eiTors  springing  from  rationalism,”  was  taken  up  on  the  18th  of  De- 
cember. In  its  original  form,  as  drawn  up  by  the  committee  of  one 
hundred  and  two  theologians,  it  contained  eighteen  decrees.  Tliose 
ha\dng  been  thoroughly  discussed,  were  found  not  to  answer  the 
scientific  purposes  of  modern  theology,  and  were  referred  back  to  the 
Commission  on  Faith. 


440 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX, 


On  March  tlic  14tli  it  was  distributed  in  its  new  form,  consisting 
of  an  introduction  and  four  chapters.*  This  labor  of  recasting  the 
schema  occupied  the  commission  till  the  end  of  February.  It  em- 
braced the  fundamental  truths  of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  de- 
fining against  Pantheism  the  existence,  personality,  and  perfections 
of  the  Godhead,  the  creation  of  the  world  in  time,  the  distinction  of 
the  Creator  from  his  work,  the  powers  and  functions  of  human 
reason,  the  necessity  of  revelation  based  on  man’s  supernatural  des- 
tiny, faith  and  its  nature  and  necessity,  the  relation  of  reason  to 
faith,  and  of  faith  to  science. 

These  were  the  foundation-stones  of  the  divine  doctrinal  structure 
which  Pius  IX.  had  set  his  heart  upon  rearing  to  its  completion,  if 
he  might,  if  not,  of  beginning.  He  followed  with  the  keenest  inter- 
est every  stage  in  the  proceedings,  as  if  he  were  unmindful  of  the 
tempest  of  obloquy  which  assailed  him,  and  which  grew  continually 
in  violence  through  each  successive  month  of  1870.  Beside  the  in- 
conceivable labor  entailed  on  him  by  the  near  presence  of  so  many 
prelates  and  the  dispatch  of  special  business  connected  witli  their 
churches,  he  would  have  a minute  account  given  him  daily  of  what 
was  done  in  the  various  committees.  But — and  this  is  the  testimony 
of  all  who  were  privileged  to  approach  him  in  his  privacy  during 
these  months  of  incessant  activity — no  amount  of  labor  or  excess  of 
fatigue  ever  made  him  deviate  from  the  faithful  aud  punctual  dis- 
charge of  those  sweet  devotional  offices  toward  the  divine  majesty, 
which  reposed  and  refreshed  and  reinvigorated  his  soul. 

He  would  not  allow  the  discussions  on  this  first  schema  on  faith 
to  be  hurried  forward  under  any  pretext  whatever,  praising  gener- 
ously the  pains  taken  and  the  labor  bestowed  by  every  one  of  the 
fathers  in  giving  to  every  chapter  and  sentence  and  expression  the 
pregnancy  and  the  perfection  which  might  insure  the  highest  util- 
ity to  all  future  times. 

And  these  labors  and  this  painstaking  were  in  truth  a something 
incredible.  In  the  second  discussion,  which  began  on  March  the 
18th,  there  were  in  all  nine  sessions ; seventy-nine  elaborate  dis- 
courses were  made  on  the  various  chapters  ; forty-seven  amendments 
were  made  to  the  first  chapter,  sixty-two  to  the  second,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  to  the  third,  and  fifty  to  the  fourth — all  of  which 


* See  “The  Vatican  Decrees,”  by  Cardinal  Manning.  Catholic  Publication 
Society  New  York,  1875. 


The  First  Constitution  Promulgated.  44 1 

had  to  be  printed — and  the  schema^  with  these  amendments,  was 
again  sent  back  to  the  commission,  the  fathers  meanwhile  discussing 
in  private  the  entire  matter,  with  the  proposed  amendments.  When 
the  commission  had  weighed  maturely  the  text  and  the  proposed  cor- 
rections, they  reported  fully  on  the  whole  matter ; the  introduction, 
the  four  chapters,  with  their  respective  amendments,  were  put  to  the 
vote  and  adopted  in  general  congregation.  "When  any  of  the  amend- 
ments were  adopted,  the  chapter  to  which  they  applied  was  referred 
back  for  final  correction.  Not  before  the  12th  of  April  were  the 
third  and  fourth  chapters,  as  thus  amended,  adopted  by  the  fathers. 
On  that  day  the  whole  schema  was  put  to  the  vote,  eighty-four  mem- 
bers voting  placet  juxta  modum,  which  meant  that  they  would  each 
have  further  amendments  made.  These  final  amendments  were  sent 
in  and  printed ; and  on  April  the  19th  the  amended  text  was  re- 
ported back,  put  to  the  vote,  and  adopted  unanimously.  Thus 
nearly  six  weeks  were  consumed  in  passing  one  schema,  seventy-nine 
discourses  being  -made  in  the  interval,  three  hundred  and  sixty-four 
amendments  proposed,  examined,  and  voted  upon,  and  six  reports 
were  made  upon  a text  which  had  been  six  times  amended.* 

The  third  public  session  of  the  couneil  was  held  on  April  the  24th, 
the  first  Sunday  after  Easter.  The  preamble  or  introduction,  with 
the  four  chapters  and  eighteen  canons,  were  approved  by  the  Holy 
Father,  adopted  and  promulgated  by  him  as  'a  papal  constitution, 
designated,  from  the  two  Latin  words  with  which  it  begins,  as  the 
Constitution  Dei  Filius. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  comment  at  length  on  this  most 
admirable  constitution,  this  masterpiece  of  Catholic  science,  every 
paragraph  and  sentence  of  which  is  like  a gem  of  the  purest  water, 
polished,  fashioned,  and  set  in  its  place  by  the  most  skillful  hands. 
The  miner  from  our  Western  States,  who  has  spent  a lifetime  in 
seeking  for  gold  amid  the  hardships  of  the  wilderness,  and  in  extract- 
ing it  from  the  sands  of  the  river  bed  or  the  face  of  the  granite  roek, 
has  a quick  eye  to  discern  the  luster  of  the  true  metal  from  its  coun- 
terfeit ; and  the  man  whose  existence  has  been  a continual  warfare 
with  savage  foes  ean  appreciate  the  weapons  which  can  best  serve 
for  offensive  or  defensive  purposes.  There  is  not  one  of  these 
chapters  that  does  not  contain  a mine  of  intellectual  wealth — not  one 
of  these  eighteen  canons  which  is  not  like  the  lance  of  Ithuriel,  the 


* Abridged  from  Cardinal  Manning’s  Tme  Story.” 


442 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Bimple  touch  of  which  will  compel  falsehood,  in  disguise,  to  return 
^‘of  force  to  its  own  likeness.”  Have  we  not  heard  of  certain  scien- 
tists abjuring  the  Catholic  faith  because  the  Council  of  the  Vatican 
placed  an  impassable  gulf  between  religion  and  science,  faith  and 
reason  ? And  3'et  here  is  one  little  passage  on  the  subject  which  re- 
futes the  assertion,  whether  made  in  ignorance  or  given  as  a pretext 
to  cover  other  and  more  unworthy  motives. 

'^Although  faith  is  above  reason,  there  can  never  be  any  real  dis- 
crepancy between  faith  and  reason,  since  the  same  God  who  reveals 
m^’steries  and  infuses  faith  has  bestowed  the  light  of  reason  on  tho 
human  mind,  and  cannot  deny  himself,  nor  can  truth  ever  contradict 
truth.  The  false  appearance  of  such  a contradiction  is  mainly  due, 
either  to  the  dogmas  of  faith  not  having  been  understood  and  ex- 
pounded according  to  the  mind  of  the  Church,  or  to  the  inventions 
of  opinion  having  been  taken  for  the  verdicts  of  reason.  . . . 

^^And  not  only  can  faith  and  reason  never  be  opposed  to  one 
another,  but  they  are  of  mutual  aid  one  to  the  other  ; for  right  rea- 
son demonstrates  the  foundations  of  faith,  and,  enlightened  by  its 
light,  cultivates  the  science  of  things  divine ; while  faith  frees  and 
guards  reason  from  errors,  and  furnishes  it  with  manifold  knowledge. 

‘^So  far,  therefore,  is  the  Church  from  opposing  the  cultivation  of 
human  arts  and  sciences,  that  it  in  many  ways  helps  and  promotes  it. 
For  the  Church  neither  ignores  nor  despises  the  benefits  to  human 
life  which  result  from  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  confesses  that,  as 
they  came  from  God,  the  Lord  of  all  science,  so,  if  they  be  rightly 
used,  they  lead  to  God  by  the  help  of  his  grace.  Nor  does  the 
Church  forbid  that  each  of  these  sciences  in  its  sphere  should  make 
use  of  its  own  principles  and  its  own  method ; but  while  recognizing 
this  just  liberty,  it  stands  watchfully  on  guard,  lest  the  sciences,  set- 
ting themselves  against  the  divine  teaching,  or  transgressing  their 
own  limits,  should  invade  and  disturb  the  domain  of  faith.” 

It  was  in  order,  when  this  preliminary  constitution  had  been  pro- 
mulgated, that  the  fathers  should  take  up  the  schema,  or  draft- 
decree  ^^on  the  Church  of  Christ.”  ‘‘It  contained  fifteen  chapters 
and  twenty-one  canons.  The  first  ten  chapters  related  to  the  body 
of  the  Cliurch  ; the  eleventh  and  twelfth  related  to  the  primacy  of  the 
liead  of  the  Church ; the  last  three  treated  of  the  relations  of  the 
Church  to  the  civil  powers.” 

When  it  had  been  made  known,  at  an  early  date  after  the  opening 
of  the  council,  that  there  was  no  place  given  on  the  schema  for  the 


“ Opporhtneness','  not  '^Divinity!'  Discussed.  443 

doctrine  of  pontifical  infallibility,  the  majority  in  the  council  began 
to  discuss  seriously  whether  they  could,  in  yiew  of  the  outcry  raised 
on  this  point,  allow  the  present  opportunity  to  pass  without  defining 
the  belief  on  this  point  once  and  forever. 

It  is  a thing  not  generally  known,  that,  when  the  question  was 
regularly  introduced,  not  a single  discussion  ever  occurred  in  the 
council  with  regard  to  the  divinity  of  this  doctrine,  or  the  fact  of 
its  having  been  revealed,  not  one  bishop  or  prelate  of  the  se^en  hun- 
dred present  ever  raised  his  voice  to  cast  any  doubt  on  this.  The 
whole  discussion,  as  explained  above,  turned  on  the  question  of  the 
opportuneness  of  defining  as  of  faith  what  all  there  present  believed 
to  be  so,  when  the  political  world  was  ready  to  quarrel  with  the 
Church  about  a definition  which  it  could  not  or  would  not  under- 
stand. 

This  is  another  point  on  which  the  desperate  and  unscrupulous 
Bavarian  faction  persisted  in  misleading  the  opinion  of  the  civilized 
world. 

Before  the  majority  of  the  bishops  had  petitioned  to  have  this 
subject  introduced  in  its  proper  place  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 
schema  on  the  Church,  indeed,  before  the  council  had  assembled  at 
all,  the  committee  of  theologians  had  drawn  up  a most  elaborate  list 
of  reasons  for  and  against  the  opportuneness  of  a definition.  These 
lists  were  on  record,  were  printed  and  handed  about  among  the 
fathers,  and  were  one  evidence  among  many  of  the  freedom  and  the 
thoroughness  with  which  everything  was  considered,  weighed,  and 
discussed  in  this  great  council.  There  was  not  a single  point  con- 
nected with  dogma,  moral  discipline,  or  any  other  of  the  questions 
selected  for  deliberation,  which  had  not  been  prepared  with  the  same 
large-mindedness,  the  same  exhaustive  fullness  of  learning. 

Surely  this  is  not  the  story  told  to  the  world  by  Professor  J ohann 
Friedrich,  who  came  to  the  council  as  a Catholic  theologian  only 
to  violate,  like  the  aged  Augustin  Theiner,  the  oath  of  secrecy  taken 
by  all  connected  with  the  committees,  by  communicating  to  his 
friend  and  master,  Bollinger,  the  most  secret  proceedings,  and  by 
misrepresenting  every  act  and  intention  of  the  majority.  To  be 
sure,  Friedrich  was  soon  found  out  and  most  ignominiously  ex- 
pelled, while  Theiner,  the  archivist  of  the  Vatican,  with  his  apart- 
ments in  the  palace,  and  near  the  sacred  treasures  of  which  he  was 
the ’guardian,  was  allowed  by  the  kind-hearted  pontiff  to  retain  his 
rooms  and  his  salary  ; but  all  access  to  the  library  was  forbidden 


444 


Life  of  Pope  Plus  IX, 


him,  ^nd  the  very  door  of  communication  between  his  room  and 
the  archives  was  walled  up.  Yet  did  he  seize  every  occasion  to 
pursue  his  course  of  betrayal ! 

The  discussion  of  the  general  schema  of  the  primacy  began  on 
May  the  14th,  and  was  concluded  on  June  the  3d.  It  occupied 
fifteen  private  sessions,  lasting  each  four  hours,  and  was  followed  by 
the  private  discussion  on  each  chapter,  thus  affording  the  opposi- 
tion an  opportunity  of  renewing  their  objections.  In  the  general 
discussion  sixty-five  members  were  heard,  nearly  all  their  discourses 
touching  on  the  fourth  chapter,  that  on  infallibility  ; in  the  special 
discussion,  closed  on  July  the  4th,  fifty-six  members  spoke  on  the 
same  subject,  and  sixty  whose  names  were  inscribed  renounced  their 
right  to  speak.  More  than  half  the  speakers  advocated  the  inoppor- 
tuneness and  danger  of  a definition. 

‘‘  The  introduction  and  the  first  two  chapters  were  then  reported 
and  accepted  almost  unanimously.  On  the  third  chapter  the  amend- 
ments were  seventy-two,  which  were  reported  on  the  5th  of  July. 
Many  were  accepted,  but  many  were  further  amended  twice  or  three 
times,  and  the  whole  chapter  was  sent  back  once  more  to  the  com- 
mission for  further  revision.  Then  on  the  11th  of  July  the  report 
was  made  on  the  fourth  chapter,  relating  to  infallibility,  on  which 
ninety-six  amendments  had  been  proposed.’^ 

When  the  final  vote  was  taken  on  July  the  13th,  there  were  pres- 
ent 601  fathers.  Of  these  451  voted  ‘‘aye,”  88  voted  “ no,”  and 
62  “ aye  conditionally,”  placet  juxta  modum.  “ This  involved  the  con- 
sideration of  new  amendments,  to  the  number  of  163,  which  were 
sent  as  usual  to  the  commission.  They  were  examined  and  reported 
on  the  16th  of  July.  Many  were  adopted  together  with  the  two 
amendments  proposed  by  the  commission.  The  whole  was  then 
printed  and  distributed,  put  once  more  to  the  vote  and  passed.” 

The  schema  had  now  assumed  the  form  of  the  Dogmatic  Consti- 
tution Pastor  JEternus,  by  which  it  must  remain  known  to  history. 
War  between  France  and  Prussia  was  imminent ; many  prelates,  in 
consequence,  had  been  allowed  to  leave  for  their  homes,  and  others 
were  anxious  to  follow  them  ; the  summer  heat  had  prostrated 
many  of  the  bisliops,  some  had  even  died ; and  there  was  a well- 
founded  rumor  that  Napoleon  was  going  to  withdraw  his  troops  and 
give  way  to  Victor  Emmanuel.  There  was  not  a moment  to  be  lost. 

On  July  the  18th  the  fourth  solemn  session  was  held,  all  being 
admitted  to  witness  the  proceedings.  The  Pope  presided,  as  on  April 


Ihe  DcJinitioji  Accepted  by  every  Catholic  Bishop,  445 

the  24th.  There  were  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  fathers  present, 
each,  when  his  name  was  called,  rising  from  his  seat,  taking  olf  his 
miter,  and  answering  placet ; two  only  answered  non  placet.  The 
pontifi  then  confirmed  the  decree,  and  addressed  the  council  in  the 
following  words  : 

Great  is  tlie  authority  residing  in  the  supreme  pontifi,  hut  his 
authority  does  not  destroy,  hut  builds  up ; it  does  not  oppress  hut 
sustain,  and  very  often  it  has  to  defend  the  rights  of  our  brethren 
the  bishops.  If  some  have  not  been  of  this  mind  with  us,  let  them 
know  that  they  have  judged  in  agitation.  But  let  them  bear  in 
mind  that  the  Lord  is  not  in  the  storm  (2  Kings  xix.  11).  Let 
them  remember  that  a few  years  ago  they  held  the  opposite  opinion, 
and  abounded  in  the  same  belief  with  us,  and  in  that  of  this  most 
august  assembly,  for  then  they  judged  in  ^the  gentle  air.’  Can 
two  opposite  consciences  stand  together  in  the  same  judgment  ? Far 
from  it.  Therefore  we  pray  God  that  he  who  alone  can  work  great 
things  may  himself  illuminate  their  minds  and  hearts,  that  all  may 
come  to  the  bosom  of  their  father,  the  unworthy  vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ  on  earth,  who  loves  them  and  desires  to  be  one  with  them,  and 
united  in  the  bond  of  charity  to  fight  with  them  the  battle  of  the 
Lord  ; so  that  not  only  our  enemies  may  not  deride  us  but  rather  be 
afraid,  and  at  length  lay  down  the  arms  of  their  warfare  in  the  pres- 
ence of  truth,  and  that  all  may  say  with  St.  Augustine,  ‘ Thou  hast 
called  me  into  thy  wonderful  light,  and  behold  I see.’” 

The  fatherly  wisli  here  expressed  was  soon  gratified  to  the  utmost. 
The  two  bishops  who  had  voted  no  ” in  the  solemn  session  hastened, 
after  the  confirmation  of  the  decrees  by  the  Pope,  to  the  foot  of  the 
papal  throne  to  give  in  their  solemn  adhesion.  The  four  dissenting 
cardinals — Eauscher,  Schwarzenberg,  Mathieu,  and  Hohenlohe — 
who  had  absented  themselves  from  the  session,  immediately  professed 
their  assent.  Of  all  the  bishops  in  the  Catholic  world  there  was  not 
one  who  did  not  accept  this  solemn  judgment  of  the  Church  with 
his  whole  heart  and  mind,  confessing  that  what  he  had  thought  in- 
opportune the  Holy  Spirit,  who  evermore  assists  the  Church  in  her 
deliberations,  had  decided  to  be  most  timely,  most  wise,  and  salu- 
tary. 

During  the  solemn  ceremonies  of  that  memorable  morning  of  July 
the  18th,  1870,  a storm  which  had  been  gathering  burst  over  Eome 
with  appalling  violence.  It  reached  its  greatest  fury  just  when  the 
Bishop  of  Fabriano,  after  reading  the  constitution  and  the  decrees 


446 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


from  tlie  ambon  or  pulpit,  called  on  each  of  tlie  fathers  by  name  to 
rise  and  vote  in  bis  place.  During  nearly  one  hour  and  a half  that 
the  voting  lasted,  the  thunder  pealed  above  St.  Peter’s,  reverberating 
oeneath  the  lofty  dome  and  through  the  vast  aisles,  and  stilling  into 
profound  awe  the  assembled  thousands.  The  lightning  flashed  in- 
cessantly, lighting  up  the  gloom  which  fllled  the  glorious  basilica, 
revealing  each  venerable  figure  which  rose  in  succession  to  pronounce 
placet^  and  revealing  the  grand  monuments  of  painting  and  seulp- 
ture  along  the  walls,  and  bringing  fitfully  out  into  preternatural  dis- 
tinctness the  gigantic  letters  of  the  inscription  round  the  base  of  the 
dome,  Tu  es  Petrus  et  super  lianc  petr am  cedificaho  ecclesiam  meam, 
'^Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I will  build  my  church” 
(Matt.  xvi.  18).  To  many  there  present  this  proclamation  of  the 
dogma  which  asserted  the  presence  and  permanence  on  earth  of  one 
living  authority  privileged  to  lay  down  infallibly  the  law  of  life  to 
the  nations,  recalled  the  thunders  which  rolled  and  the  lightnings 
which  flashed  round  Sinai,  while  Moses  within  the  storm-cloud  on 
the  mountain-top  received  the  law  from  the  Eternal  God. 

While  the  Te  Deum  was  being  sung  with  an  emotion  that  even  St. 
Peter’s  had  never  witnessed,  the  storm  passed  away,  and  the  sun  came 
forth,  and  all  was  again  serenity,  sunlight,  and  peace.  This  inci- 
dent gave  appositeness  to  the  Holy  Father’s  allusion  in  his  address 
to  the  bishops  to  ^^the  storm”  and  ^‘the  gentle  air.”  But  there 
was  another  tempest  of  more  dire  import  soon  to  burst  over  the 
doomed  city. 


CHAPTEK  XXXIV. 


The  Fkanco-Peussiai^  Wae  akd  the  Invasion-  oe  Kome — The 
Pope’s  Peotest  befoee  the  Diplomatic  Body — Ee'cyclical 

OM  THIS  LAST  SPOLIATION — XaBOTH  WILL  NOT  GIVE  UP  TO 

Achab  the  Inheeitance  of  his  Eathees — How  THE  Youth 
OF  Italy  weee  Peeveeted — Peocesses  used  by  Jacobins, 
Mazzini,  and  Gaeibaldi — The  Ieish  Bishops  and  Pius  IX. 
— Ee ACTION  AMONG  CATHOLIC  YoUTH  OF  ITALY — ThE  EoMAN 
Pateiciate  head  the  Movement — Xoble  Behavioe  of  Ko- 
MAN  Ladies — Fidelity  in  eveey  Depaetment  of  the  Pon- 
tifical Seevice — Diabolical  Ingenuity  of  Piedmontism — 
Pontifical  Jubilee”  of  1871 — Bologna  and  Kome  foe 
Pius  IX. — The  Pope  and  the  Pooe  Women  of  Kome — Bre- 
land Conspicuous — Pius  IX.  Saves  ^‘Tata  Giovanni.” 

September,  1870-August,  1871. 

IX  August,  1866,  the  French  emperor,  who  had  been  compelled  to 
withdraw  his  army  from  Mexico,  leaving  to  its  fate  the  Latin 
empire  which  he  purposed  creating  there,  wished  to  give  some  sat- 
isfaction to  French  national  feelings  wounded  by  this  ignominious 
retreat  and  the  tragic  death  of  chivalrous  Maximilian.  He  revived 
the  cherished  idea  of  a war  with  Prussia,  and  the  rectification  of 
the  Khine  frontier  of  France  by  the  restoration  of  Luxembourg  and 
other  adjacent  provinces.  A note  was  in  consequence  addressed  to 
the  government  of  Prussia ; but  the  latter,  not  unconscious  of  her 
own  rights  and  the  military  inferiority  of  France,  declared  all  nego- 
tiations on  the  subjects  mentioned  to  be  inadmissible.  Prussia  from 
that  hour  resolved  to  hold  herself  in  readiness  to  repress  the  inso- 
lence of  the  man  whose  only  chance  of  maintaining  his  throne,  lay 
in  fomenting  trouble  among  his  neighbors,  and  in  feeding  the  vanity 
of  a people  of  soldiers  by  promoting  aggressive  wars. 

Then  came  the  Industrial  Exhibition  of  1867,  the  visit  of  the 
King  of  Prussia  and  Count  Bismark  to  Paris,  the  presence  in  that 
capital  of  the  most  distinguished  military  men  of  Germany,  and  the 

447 


448 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


flooding  of  the  north-eastern  provinces  with  Prussian  officers,  who 
had  come  to  make  a thorough  study  of  the  topography  of  the  coun- 
try and  of  its  resources.  All  know  how  the  candidature  of  Prince 
Leopold  of  Ilohenzollern  to  the  Spanish  crown  created  complica- 
tions between  the  French  and  Prussian  Governments  ending  in  war, 
the  invasion  of  France,  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  III.,  the  with- 
drawal of  the  French  troops  from  the  Roman  territory  on  August  the 
21st,  and  the  forcible  occupation  of  Rome  by  an  Italian  army  on  the 
20tli  of  September.  On  the  18th  and  19th  the  Holy  Father,  knowing 
that  the  end  was  nigh,  and  that  the  defense  made  by  his  handful  of 
troops  against  overwhelming  odds  could  only  serve  to  save  the  honor 
of  his  flag,  and  to  protest  before  all  Christendom  against  an  invasion 
unprovoked,  wanton,  and  sacrilegious,  carried  on  in  violation  of  all 
the  rights  that  are  held  most  sacred,  visited  for  the  last  time  the 
places  which  were  most  dear  to  him  in  Rome,  among  them  his 
cathedral,  the  Lateran  Basilica,  and  the  ‘^Sacred  Stairs  ’’  taken  from 
the  house  of  Pilate  in  Jerusalem,  and  made  holy  by  the  contact  of 
our  suffering  Saviour’s  feet.  Pius  IX.  ascended  them  on  his  knees 
with  a devotion  that  touched  all  who  witnessed  the  scene,  bearing 
in  mind  his  divine  prototype,  and  praying  fervently  for  his  Roman 
people,  around  whom  the  waves  of  evil  were  rising  with  resistless 
fury. 

While  the  last  struggle  was  going  on  the  diplomatic  body  sur- 
rounded the  Holy  Father,  powerless  to  avert  the  doom  of  Rome  and 
the  triumph  of  the  revolution.  He  recalled  to  the  ambassadors  that 
sad  17th  of  November,  1848,  when  their  predecessors  formed  a body- 
guard to  save  him  from  the  violence  of  his  own  subjects.  ‘^Yester- 
day,” he  said,  “I  received  a letter  from  the  students  of  the  American 
College,  almost  asking  as  a right  to  become  my  body-guard.  I know 
how  safe  I should  be  in  the  hands  of  these  intrepid  young  Ameri- 
cans ; but  I begged  them,  instead  of  defending  me,  to  care  for  my 
wounded  soldiers.  . . . How  happy  you  would  be  to  tell  me 

that  I might  now  rely  for  protection  on  your  government,  is  not  a 
secret  to  me.  But  times  are  changed  since  1848.  The  poor  old 
Pope  is  now  bereft  of  all  earthly  aid.  Relief  can  only  come  from 
above.  Still  must  we  not  forget  that  the  Church  can  never  die.” 

When  further  resistance  had  become — not  impossible — but  un- 
availing, he  stopped  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  sent  orders  to  General 
Kanzler  to  capitulate.  “You  are  witnesses,  gentlemen,”  he  said 
to  the  ambassadors,  “'that  our  enemies  are  entering  by  violence. 


Encyclical  on  the  Invasio7t  of  Rome, 


449 


They  break  into  onr  homes  by  sheer  force  of  arms,  and  our  efforts 
at  resistance  are  to  save  these  homes  from  pillage  and  profanation. 

. . . My  chief  concern  now  is  for  the  devoted  Catholic  soldiers 

who  have  come  from  afar  to  defend  in  this  city  the  center  of 
Catholic  nnity.  To  you  I commit  their  safety ; I know  you  will 
protect  them  from  their  lawless  enemies,  and  see  to  it  that  they  shall 
be  protected  on  their  way  homeward.  My  own  soldiers  I now  ab- 
solve from  their  allegiance.  As  to  myself,  God  will  not  refuse  me 
the  fortitude  I need.” 

Let  us  draw  a vail  over  the  atrocities  and  profanations  which  fol- 
lowed the  entrance  of  the  Piedmontese,  led  by  General  Cadorna,  an 
apostate  monk,  chosen  by  Victor  Emmanuel  as  the  fittest  instru- 
ment for  the  consummation  of  his  designs  against  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Holy  See. 

On  the  1st  of  November  the  Holy  Father  issued  an  encyclical 
to  the  hierarchy  on  this  crowning  guilt  of  the  house  of  Savoy. 

When  we  look  back,”  it  says,  ‘^at  the  measures  employed  without 
intermission  by  the  Piedmontese  government  for  many  years  to  sub- 
vert the  temporal  sovereignty  created  by  Providence  to  enable  the 
successors  of  the  Apostle  Peter  to  enjoy  a perfect  liberty  in  the  exer- 
cise of  their  spiritual  jurisdiction,  we  cannot  help  being  filled  with 
heartfelt  grief  at  the  result  of  this  vast  conspiracy  against  the 
Church  of  God  and  his  Apostolic  See.  For,  at  this  very  moment 
this  same  government,  carrying  out  the  designs  of  the  wicked  secret 
societies,  has  succeeded  in  sacrilegiously  wresting  from  us  with  this 
city  the  last  remnant  of  territory  spared  by  former  invasions,  against 
all  law  and  right  and  justice.  So  that,  prostrate  before  the  divine 
majesty,  we  can  only  adore  the  hidden  counsels  of  Heaven,  and 
repeat  the  words  of  the  prophet,  ^Therefore  do  I weep,  and  my 
eyes  run  down  with  water  ; because  the  comforter,  the  relief  of  my 
soul,  is  far  from  me ; my  children  are  desolate,  because  the  enemy 
hath  prevailed.’” 

The  encyclical  then  enumerates  the  various  pontifical  documents 
giving  the  detailed  history  of  the  Piedmontese  usurpations,  reciting, 
year  after  year,  the  progress  of  the  robber  and  anti-Christian  spirit 
in  wresting  province  after  province,  and  violating  all  divine  and 
human  law  in  its  spoliation  and  oppression  of  the  Church  as  it  ad- 
vanced toward  Rome  itself. 

'‘In  the  midst  of  these  protracted  struggles,  these  perils,  cares, 


* Lamentations  of  Jeremias,  i.  16. 


45o 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


and  sorrows  of  every  kind,  Providence  allowed  us  to  enjoy  one  gicat 
comfort  in  the  devotion  and  boundless  charity  displayed  by  your 
people  and  yourselves  toward  this  Apostolic  See  and  our  own  person. 
This  encouraged  us,  in  spite  of  the  perpetual  alarms  caused  by  the 
enemy’s  plots  and  threats,  to  spare  no  labor  in  order  to  defend  and 
increase  the  temporal  welfare  of  our  subjects.  You  and  others  who 
have  again  and  again  come  hither  to  partake  in  several  great  solem- 
nities, can  attest  how  great  was  our  care  to  maintain  the  public  peace 
and  security,  to  cultivate  all  the  arts  and  industries,  and  how  deep 
was  the  fidelity  of  our  people  toward  us. 

^^Nevertheless,  while  such  was  the  prosperity  and  such  the  tran- 
quillity of  our  States,  the  King  of  Piedmont  and  his  government  pro- 
fited by  the  war  which  had  begun  between  two  most  powerful  Euro- 
pean nations — with  one  of  which  the  same  king  and  government  had 
bound  themselves  by  solemn  treaty  to  preserve  inviolate  the  existing 
condition  of  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  to  defend  it  from  the 
aggression  of  any  faction — to  possess  themselves  without  delay  of  our 
remaining  territory  and  of  this  our  capital. 

Whence  came  this  resolve  and  what  were  the  motives  of  this  in- 
vasion ? The  contents  of  the  royal  letter  of  September  the  8th, 
brought  to  us  by  a special  envoy,  are  now  well  known  to  all ; beneath 
the  specious  and  ambiguous  phraseology,  the  professions  of  filial 
reverence  and  Catholic  devotion,  the  interests  of  public  peace,  and 
the  desire  to  protect  both  the  pontifical  dignity  and  our  person,  he 
would  have  us  not  to  consider  it  a crime,  if  he  possessed  himself  of 
our  temporal  sovereignty,  begging  us  to  give  up  voluntarily  our 
power  over  the  same,  and  to  trust  to  the  promises  which  he  held 
out,  which,  he  affirmed,  would  effect  a reconciliation  between  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  the  Italian  people  and  the  supreme  spiritual 
authority  of  the  Holy  See.  We  could  not  help  being  amazed  at  the 
transparent  artifice  by  which  it  was  sought  to  vail  the  violence  about 
to  be  perpetrated,  nor  being  saddened  by  the  spectacle  of  a king 
urged  on  by  evil  counsels  to  inflict  daily  new  wounds  on  the  Church, 
and  to  forget  the  fear  of  God  in  his  deference  to  men,  unmindful 
that  there  is  in  heaven  a King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  ^ who  will 
not  accept  any  man’s  person,  neither  will  he  stand  in  awe  of  any 
man’s  greatness  ; for  he  made  the  little  and  the  great,  and  he  hath 
equally  care  of  all.  But  a greater  punishment  is  ready  for  the  more 
mighty.’”  * 


* Wisdom  vi.  8,  9. 


Victor  Emma^iiieVs  Co7tsiste7it  Hypocrisy,  45 1 

could  not  hesitate  to  reject  these  propositions,  as  our  duty 
and  conscience  required.  We  also  recalled  to  him.  the  examples  of 
our  predecessors,  of  Pius  VII.  especially,  whose  invincible  fortitude, 
expressed  under  circumstances  precisely  similar,  we  wished  to  make 
our  own.  ^We  had  remembered  (the  Pontiff  says)  with  St.  Am- 
brose how  holy  Naboth,  being  required  by  a king  to  give  up  a vine- 
yard which  he  owned,  that  the  king  might  uproot  the  vines  and  plant 
vile  herbs  instead,  made  answer,  The  Lord  be  merciful  to  me,  and 
not  let  me  give  thee  the  inheritance  of  my  fathers  / ’ * . . . 

^^With  these  same  sentiments  repeatedly  expressed  in  our  allocu- 
tions, we  answered  the  king,  rejeeting  and  reproving  his  proposi- 
tions, but  so  tempering  our  bitter  grief  with  affection  that  he 
might  see  that  our  fatherly  charity  could  not  help  having  a care 
even  of  the  sons  who  imitated  Absalom  in  their  unnatural  rebellion. 

Without  even  affording  time  for  an  answer  to  reach  him,  he 
sent  his  armies  to  take  possession  of  our  cities,  driving  out  our  fee- 
ble garrisons  ; and  then  soon  followed  that  ill-starred  day  of  Sep- 
tember the  20th,  when  we  beheld  this  city,  the  See  of  the  Prince  of 
the  Apostles,  the  center  of  the  Catholic  religion,  the  asylum  of  all 
nations,  besieged  by  a numerous  army,  her  inhabitants  terrified  by  a 
bombardment,  and  her  walls  breached,  by  that  sovereign’s  arms  who 
had  just  been  making  to  us  so  solemn  a profession  of  love  and  fidel- 
ity and  reverence  ! 

What  could  have  befallen  us  more  calamitous  than  that  day? 
We  saw  with  our  own  eyes  that  army  marching  into  the  city,  together 
with  the  numerous  ‘factions,’  upsetting  all  law  and  order.  We 
had  to  endure  to  have  the  pontifical  dignity  outraged  in  our  person 
by  the  most  abominable  cries,  to  see  our  faithful  troops  treated  with 
every  species  of  contumely,  our  people  subjected  to  the  most  unbri- 
dled licentiousness  and  violence,  and  all  this  in  a city  where  but  a few 
hours  before  everybody  sought  with  filial  tenderness  to  lighten  the 
grief  of  the  common  father. 

“From  that  day  forth  we  were  compelled  to  witness  what  all  good 
men  must  brand  with  merited  reprobation.  Books  inspired  by  a 
fiendish  purpose,  filled  with  falsehoods,  obscenity,  and  impiety  were 
printed  and  circulated  in  the  cheapest  forms ; a number  of  daily 
papers  were  published,  aiming  at  corrupting  the  minds  and  manners 
of  the  readers,  holding  up  to  contempt  our  holy  religion,  inflaming 


* Pius  yiL,  Litt.  Apost.,  10  Jun.  1809. 


452 


Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX, 


by  all  manner  of  calumnies  the  public  mind  against  us  and  the  Apos- 
tolic See  ; vile  and  indecent  pictures  were  exposed  to  sale,  and  other 
like  means  were  sedulously  employed  to  bring  all  persons  consecrated 
to  God  into  ridicule  and  contempt;  public  honors  and  monuments 
were  decreed  to  malefactors  who  had  been  condemned  for  the  most 
odious  crimes ; the  ministers  of  the  Catholic  Church,  whom  it  is 
their  chief  purpose  to  persecute,  were  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  in- 
sults, and  some  of  them  were  wounded  in  the  most  treacherous  man- 
ner ; religious  houses  were  ransacked,  our  own  palace  of  the  Qui- 
rinal  violated,  and  a cardinal  who  had  his  residence  in  a part  of  it 
forced  to  fly  in  haste,  while  others  of  our  household  were  in  a like 
manner  expelled  and  ill-treated.  They  passed  laws  and  ordinances 
violating  the  freedom,  immunity,  and  rights  of  property  enjoyed  by 
the  Church  ; and  these  evils  it  is  manifestly  the  intention  of  their 
authors  to  multiply  and  aggravate,  unless  God  in  his  mercy  prevent 
it.  Meanwhile  we  are  utterly  powerless  to  apply  the  slightest  rem- 
edy, and  are  admonished  daily  more  and  more  of  our  bondage  and  of 
the  entire  absence  of  that  perfect  liberty,  which  our  enemies  endeavor 
to  persuade  the  world  by  untruthful  statements  that  we  are  still  pos- 
sessed of,  and  that  they  have  guaranteed  to  us  in  all  that  pertains  to 
our  ministry.’’ 

He  then  protests  against  the  farce  of  an  election  gone  through  by 
the  usurping  government,  as  if  this  “universal  suffrage,”  exercised 
only  by  a wretched  minority,  could  sanction  the  wrongs  and  out- 
rages of  rebellion  and  unjust  invasion,  or  save  the  Avrongdoers  from 
the  well-knoAvn  penalties  incurred  by  their  acts. 

There  is  a magnificent  passage  in  Avhich  the  sovereign  pontiff,  con- 
sidered till  then  the  supremo  arbiter  and  avenger  of  public  and  pri- 
vate wrong,  protests  against  the  spoliation  of  which  he  is  the  victim. 

“ AYe,  to  Avhom  God  hath  intrusted  the  goA'ernment  of  the  entire 
house  of  Israel,  whom  he  hath  established  the  supreme  defender  of 
religion  and  justice,  the  protector  of  the  Church  and  her  rights,  do 
not  wish  to  seem,  by  our  silence,  to  yield  any  kind  of  assent  to  this 
revolution  ; we,  on  the  contrary,  renew  and  confirm  the  declaration 
made  by  our  order  and  in  our  name,  through  our  Cardinal  Secretary 
of  State,  on  that  same  20th  day  of  September,  and  communicated  by 
him  to  the  ambassadors  of  foreign  powers  resident  near  us  and  this 
Holy  See  ; this  we  now  reiterate  in  the  most  solemn  form  we  can  in 
your  presence.  Venerable  Brothers,  and  hereby  declare,  that  it  is  our 
intention,  purpose,  and  will  to  preserA’e  inviolate  and  intact  and  to 


Process  of  Intellectual  Dehatuhery, 


453 


transmit  in  their  integrity  to  our  successors  all  the  dominions  ol 
this  Holy  See  as  well  as  its  every  right.  We  declare  that  the  usur- 
pation of  the  same,  whether  just  now  accomplished  or  perpetrated 
anteriorly,  is  unjust,  violent,  null,  and  of  none  effect,  and  that  all 
the  acts  of  our  rebel  subjects  and  of  the  invaders,  whether  done 
so  far,  or  which  may  be  done  hereafter,  shall  now  be  held  as  con- 
demned, rescinded,  annulled,  and  abrogated. 

“We  moreover  declare  and  protest  before  God,  and  in  presence  of 
the  entire  Catholic  world,  that  such  is  the  bondage  in  which  we  are 
held  that  we  can  in  nowise  discharge  our  supreme  pastoral  office 
with  the  needful  safety,  expedition,  and  freedom.  In  fine,  . . . 

mindful  of  our  duty  and  of  the  solemn  oath  by  which  we  are  bound, 
we  openly  and  publicly  proclaim  and  declare  that  we  will  never  con- 
sent to  any  kind  of  compromise  which  may  destroy  or  lessen  our  own 
rights,  which  are  also  those  of  God  and  the  Holy  See.  We  profess 
in  like  manner  that,  with  the  aid  of  the  divine  grace,  we  are  ready, 
despite  our  advanced  age,  to  drink  to  the  lees,  for  the  love  of  Christ’s 
Church,  the  cup  which  he  drained  before  us  for  that  same.  Church, 
never  permitting  ourselves  to  accept  or  to  assent  to  the  iniquitous 
demands  made  upon  us. 

“We  can  only  repeat  the  words  of  our  predecessor  Pius  VII.  ^To 
do  violence  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Holy  See,  to  separate  its  tem- 
poral from  its  spiritual  power,  to  disjoin  and  • dissociate  the  office  of 
pastor  from  that  of  prince,  is  simply  to  impair  and  ruin  the  work  of 
God  ; it  is  to  expose  religion  to  the  most  serious  danger,  to  deprive 
her  of  that  sovereign  means  which  enables  her  chief  ruler  and  Christ’s 
vicar  to  extend  to  Catholics  spread  all  over  the  world  the  spiritual] 
aid  which  they  need  and  ask,  and  which  can  only  be  ministered  by 
one  who  is  subject  to  none  other.’  ” 

While  we  are  yet  in  presence  of  this  “ consummation  ” of  Pied- 
montism,  with  the  cross  of  Savoy  and  the  Italian  tricolor  fioating 
triumphant  and  supreme  from  the  venerable  walls  of  Castle  St. 
Angelo,  it  may  be  well  to  pause  and  ask  ourselves  how  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  so  large  a number  of  the  infiuential  classes  in  Italy  have 
been  brought  to  look  upon  the  faith  of  their  fathers  not  only  with 
aversion — that  is  too  mild  a term — but  with  a savage  and;  intolerant 
hatred  ; and,  next,  by  what  calculation  in  the  revolutionary  leaders 
the  diffusion  of  obscene  and  immoral  literature  was  invariably  made 


♦ Pius  VII.,  Allocution  of  Marck  tke  16tli,  1808 


454 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


an  agency  for  weaning  the  popular  heart  from  the  Church,  the  Popo^ 
and  all  clerical  influence  ? 

History — modern,  almost  contemporaneous  history — has  plainly 
told  how  Voltairianism  succeeded,  by  combined,  systematic,  wide- 
spread, and  persistent  efforts  among  the  educated  and  leading  classes 
in  France,  in  leavening  the  minds  of  men  of  letters  and  the  aristoc- 
racy first,  and  then  of  the  lourgeoisie  or  middle-class  population, 
wdth  the  fashionable  poison  of  skepticism ; how,  almost  simultane- 
ously, Illuminism,  or  Jacobinism,  its  energetic  offspring,  took  hold  of 
the  popular  and  laboring  classes,  and  made  them  radicals,  atheists, 
revolutionists.  In  both  cases  the  intellect  of  the  nation  was  first  de- 
bauched and  poisoned,  corrupted  by  setting  a certain  class  of  ideas 
afloat,  which  by  degrees  supplanted  the  traditional  notions  in  belief, 
in  social  relations,  and  politics.  Then  with  these  new  notions  came 
a new  language. 

The  current  thought  and  language  of  revolutionary  France  in  the 
year  of  grace  1800  no  more  resembled  that  of  the  France  of  Louis 
XIV.,  in  1700,  than  those  of  Eome  in  1877  resembled  the  popular 
beliefs,  aspirations,  conceptions  of  things,  or  the  sights  seen  and  the 
language  heard  in  drawing-room,  cafe,  or  street,  when  the  first  sans- 
culotte soldiers  under  Duphot  amused  the  Komans  by  their  repub- 
lican jargon  in  1796. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  early  chapters  of  this  book,  tlie  first  fruit 
of  the  French  republican  invasion  of  Italy  at  that  period,  was  a 
most  intelligent,  extensive,  and  persevering  propagandism,  by  which 
the  skeptical,  unbelieving,  and  radical  ^drus  in  the  French  mind  was 
widely  and  successfully  communicated  to  the  Italian.  The  change 
wrought  in  language  was  parallel  with  the  intellectual  revolution. 

Mazzini  found  the  ground  well  prepared  for  him  in  1830.  His 
‘‘Young  Italy  League’’  and  the  Carbonari  had  a creed  of  their  own 
to  preach  and  propagate ; the  political  fanaticism  with  which  they 
possessed  themselves  of  the  masses  of  the  Italians,  in  the  cities  princi- 
pally, enabled  them  to  make  their  “creed”  supplant  all  other  belief, 
and  their  own  morality  to  supersede  every  other  code  of  laws,  hum-an 
or  divine. 

These  “sects,”  no  matter  what  differences  separated  them  in  or- 
ganization or  means  of  action,  had  a well-defined  purpose  toward 
which  they  struggled  unfalteringly,  and  a language  which  all  the 
initiated  understood  well.  ’ The  Italian  youth  of  1830-32  were  men 
of  mature  years  in  1848 ; and  in  1877  the  few  who  survive  see 


'Power  of  Garibaldi  over  Italian  Youth,  455 

around  them  the  intervening  generations  indoctrinated  most  care- 
fully in  the  Mazzinian  and  Carbonari  profession  of  faith  in  Italy  and 
humanity,  and  their  hearts  inoculated  with  the  pestilential  materi- 
alism or  sensualism  which  has  served  as  a vehicle  for  the  intellectual 
poison. 

This  Italy  of  to-day — the  governing  Italy — is  made  up  of  a large 
and  powerful  minority,  the  bone  and  sinew  of  which  are  the  middle 
and  laboring  classes  in  the  cities,  the  brains  of  which  consist  of  law- 
yers, physicians,  and  other  professional  men.  Their  antagonist  is  the 
Church,  and  with  the  Church  they  have  made  only  a temporary  com- 
promise ; they  mean,  and  they  are  bound,  to  extirpate  her  root  and 
branch. 

But  how  have  they  debauched  the  youth  of  Italy  ? Eemember 
how  the  youth  of  France  was  intellectually  debauched  after  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Jesuits  (and  what  is  said  of  France  can  be  applied  to 
contemporary  Spain  and  Portugal  and  their  transatlantic  colonies) ; 
how  the  French  University  was  created,  and  became  one  vast  vehicle 
of  skeptical  and  anti-Christian  teaching. 

Turn  now  to  Italy,  and  recall  with  what  extraordinary  industry 
and  ability  Mazzini  taught,  through  Young  Italy”  and  the  sects,” 
the  masses  of  ardent  young  men,  who  were  made  to  see  in  the  liber- 
ation and  political  unity  of  their  native  land  the  sole  mission  for 
which  every  Italian  was  bound  to  live  and  labor,  and  in  the  Pope,  and 
the  whole  ecclesiastical  system  of  which  he  was  the  head,  the  curse 
that  all  were  bound  to  remove  from  free  Italy. 

Mazzini  was  an  eloquent,  a fanatical,  a fascinating  preacher,  and 
he  had  a more  intelligent,  cultivated  , active,  and  unscrupulous  army 
of  apostles  at  his  beck  than  was  ever  commanded  by  Mohammed 
or  Abu-Bekr.  But  one  who  was,  perhaps,  more  efficient  in  infus- 
ing a fierce  hatred  of  everything  Christian,  Catholic,  priestly,  into 
the  souls  of  the  most  chivalrous  youths  of  Italy,  was  Garibaldi.  The 
man  was  a soldier,  a freebooter  rather,  with  the  disinterestedness,  the 
dash,  the  recklessness,  and  the  success  which  make  soldiers  of  for- 
tune heroes,  and  elevate  patriot  soldiers  into  ideals  and  idols.  Such 
he  was  and  is  to  the  Italian  youth,  educated  for  several  generations 
in  the  hatred  of  priestly  influence,  in  a fanatical  aversion  to  every- 
thing clerical. 

In  the  first  days  of  January,  1860,  this  incarnation  of  anti-Chris- 
tian hate  received  an  address  from  the  students  of  the  University  of 
Pavia.  A few  sentences  from  his  answer  will  enable  the  reader  to 


456 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


account  for  many  things  in  1870  which  else  might  have  remained 
inexplicable.  Young  students  ! ’’  he  begins,  in  all  my  life  one 
word  has  made  a more  pleasing  and  a deeper  impression  than  any 
other,  it  is  that  which  I have  heard  from  you.  You,  0 chosen 
youth,  the  pure  and  virgin  hope  of  Italy ! . . . I answer  you 

overcome  with  emotion,  . . . you  cannot  but  see  it ! moved  by 

gratitude  and  respect,  . . . as  if  I were  in  presence  of  an  ideal 
Areopagus  of  men  . . . who  are  to  be  the  future  glory  of  my 
country  ! . . . But  there  are  some  wicked  men  who  want  to  re- 

plunge it  in  the  mire.  In  spite  of  them  it  must  go  forward  to  its 
great  providential  destiny  ! . . . Yes,  a few  wicked  men  ! . . 

They  form  an  obstacle  to  its  resurrection  ! . . . Their  institu- 

tions date  from  the  humiliation  and  the  unspeakable  misfortunes 
of  our  country ! . . . They  gave  to  the  world  the  spectacle  of 
burning  people  at  the  stake,  and  would  do  it  to-day  if  they  could  ! 
They  are  the  inventors  of  torture,  and  would,  if  they  dared,  subject 
free  men  to  it  still ! ...  In  remembering  all  this,  every  man 
born  on  this  soil  should  take  up  the  stones  from  the  street,  . . . 

and  avenge  on  these  miserable  black-gowned  hypocrites  the  misfor- 
tunes, the  wrongs,  the  sufferings  of  twenty  past  generations  ! ” The 
punctuation  and  style  of  this  extraordinary  production  have  been 
carefully  preserved  in  this  extract. 

Can  one  be  astonished,  on  reading  this — and  remembering  that  all 
the  influence  of  Victor  Emmanuel’s  government  was  at  that  very  time 
employed  in  aiding  such  education  as  this,  and  by  such  men — at  what 
is  related  of  the  horrors  and  abominations  which  filled  Kome  on  the 
entrance  of  the  Piedmontese  army,  and  its  large  auxiliary  force  of 
'^sectarians,”  Mazzinians,  and  Garibaldians  ? 

But  why  employ  obscenity,  licentiousness,  immorality  in  its  most 
shameless  forms,  to  promote  the  freedom  of  Italy  ? Because  licen- 
tiousness, or,  at  least,  pleasure,  as  all  history  attests,  has  ever  been 
the  means  used  by  tyranny  of  every  description  in  subjecting  the  'vul- 
gar crowd  to  its  will. 

» There  is  another  reason,  however  ; because  with  the  cup  of  pleasure 
presented  to  the  thirsting  lips  was  joined  a pledge  to  hate  the  very 
name  of  Catholicity  and  Christianity. 

But  we  must  abstain  through  reverence  for  the  eyes  which  are  to 
dwell  on  these  pages,  and  tenderness  for  the  young  souls  who  may 
learn  wholesome  truths  and  derive  noble  sentiments  from  the  life  we 
have  undertaken  to  sketch. 


Sympathy  of  the  Irish  Bishops,  457 

The  sacrilegious  yiolence  used  toward  the  Holy  Father,  and  the 
wholesale  measures  of  confiscation  and  spoliation  which  marked  the 
very  first  days  of  Piedmontese  rule,  drew  forth  a cry  of  grief  and  in- 
dignation from  the  whole  Catholic  world.  But  no  nation  distin- 
guished itself  more  than  the  Irish  in  this  generous  outburst  of  right- 
eous anger  at  what  all  resented  as  a personal  wrong. 

The  archbishops  and  bishops  immediately  assembled  and  drew  up  a 
joint  letter  of  sympathy  to  the  Holy  Father,  published  eloquent  pas- 
torals, in  which  they  recited  to  their  flocks  the  nature  and  magni- 
tude of  this  last  outrage  on  the  common  parent  of  Christians,  and 
enjoined  perpetual  prayers  to  be  offered  up  in  public  for  the  august 
captive.  In  very  truth,  the  heart  of  the  Irish  people  spoke  in  every 
line  and  word.  It  is  dated  the  19th  of  October,  one  month  after  the 
long  captivity  of  Pius  IX.  began. 

Most  Holy  Fathee  : — The  tidings  of  the  crimes  perpetrated 
lately  in  Rome  against  your  Holiness  have  filled  with  the  deepest 
grief  and  indignation  all  of  us,  the  bishops  of  Ireland,  our  entire 
clergy,  and  the  faithful  people  intrusted  to  our  care.  You  are  for 
us  the  venerated  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  infallible  vicar  of  Christ, 
and  as  such  singularly  loved  by  us  ; how  could  we  not  feel  most  bit- 
terly the  outrages  inflicted  on  you,  and  hold  as  worthy  of  the  most 
utter  reprobation  the  men  who  dared  to  rise  against  the  Lord  and 
his  anointed,  to  attack  and  besiege  the  very  city  of  Rome,  conse- 
crated by  the  blood  of  the  two  chief  apostles,  the  see  and  residence 
of  the  sovereign  pontiffs  since  the  days  of  Peter,  and  the  common 
country  of  the  whole  Christian  people,  beside  making  a prisoner  of 
you,  the  father  and  teacher  of  all  Catholics,  and  attempting  to 
abolish,  in  violation  of  all  right,  human  and  divine,  that  sacred 
principality  of  yours,  secured  to  you  by  the  possession  of  ages  and 
indispensable  for  the  preservation  of  the  liberty  of  the  Church. 

These  crimes  and  sacrileges  appear  to  us  so  enormous,  and  fill 
us  with  such  grief,  that  we  can  scarcely  find  words  to  express  our 
sentiments  of  sorrow  and  indignation.  Lest,  however,  we  should 
fail  in  our  duty  to  our  dearest  father,  we  have  hastened  to  send 
this  short  letter,  in  order  that  your  Holiness  may  know  how  your 
sons  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  sympathize  with  you  in  your  sor- 
row. . . , 

^‘We  ardently  pray  that  the  time  may  soon  come  when  God, 
awakened  by  the  supplications  of  his  people,  shall  arise  to  judge 
his  own  cause,  and  shall  put  an  end  to  these  blind  agitations,  these 


458 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX. 


wars,  these  conspiracies  of  secret  societies,  and  annihilate  the  gnilty 
enemies  of  religion  and  the  Holy  See  ! Most  blessed  will  be  the  day 
when,  the  powers  of  hell  being  put  to  flight,  the  Catholic  nations 
- will  restore  you  to  liberty,  replace  you  once  more  at  the  head  of  the 
temporal  dominions  of  the  Holy  See,  thereby  enabling  you  to  gOTern 
the  Church  in  perfect  freedom,  and  to  bring  to  a happy  termination 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican,  assembled  and  conducted  with  a wisdom 
admired  by  all  Catholics.” 

Not  before  the  18th  of  November  could  the  Holy  Father  reply  to 
these  words  of  true  sympathy.  “Just  as  religion,”  he  says,  “flour- 
ishes ever  more  vigorously  amid  trials  in  that  island  of  yours,  and  as 
you,  your  clergy,  and  your  people  ever  study  the  more  to  show  your 
constant  devotion  and  obedience  toward  us  and  this  Holy  See,  even  so 
must  your  grief  have  been  more  bitter  at  beholding  the  consummation 
of  that  sacrilegious  guilt  which  stripped  us  of  the  last  remnant  of  our 
principality,  of  the  possession  of  our  capital  city,  left  us  completely 
in  the  power  of  the  enemy,  and  bereft  of  that  outward  liberty  in  the 
discharge  of  our  office  which  the  entire  Church  has  declared  to  be 
absolutely  necessary. 

“You  surely  cannot  but  have  heard  with  indignation  and  horror 
of  the  violation  of  the  law  of  nations,  the  trampling  on  the  most 
solemn  treaties,  brutal  violence  calling  to  its  aid  the  most  odious 
hyprocrisy  in  order  to  deceive  public  opinion,  the  fearful  wound  in- 
flicted on  Christ’s  Church  in  her  head,  the  cruel  wrong  done  to  the 
entire  Catholic  world,  and  religion,  morality,  the  public  and  private 
tranquillity  exposed  to  the  most  imminent  danger. 

“Your  true  love  shows  itself  by  your  deeds ; not  satisfied  with 
expressing  your  indignation,  you  have  enlightened  your  people  on 
the  magnitude  of  this  impious  usurpation,  thereby  preventing  their 
being  deceived  by  the  fraud  and  artifice  of  its  guilty  authors ; you 
have,  moreover,  urged  your  flocks  to  assist  the  oppressed  Church  in 
her  need  by  protestations,  petitions,  and  every  legal  means  within 
their  reach.” 

But  while  the  Catholic  populations  of  both  continents  were  send- 
ing in  unanimous  and  energetic  addresses  of  sympathy  from  every, 
diocese,  the  Catholics  of  Italy  were  displaying  a courage,  a resolu- 
tion, and  zeal  deserving  of  all  praise.  Ever  since  the  annexations 
of  1859-60,  the  cities  of  the  Eomagna,  the  Marches,  and  Umbria,  as 
well  as  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  had  organized  associa- 
tions of  young  people  whose  sole  purpose  was  to  profess  openly  their 


Catholic  Reaction  among  Italians,  4.5g 

adlierence  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers,  their  faithful  practice  of 
all  its  prescriptions,  and  a special  deyotion  to  the  Holy  See.  These 
in  time  spread  to  every  part  of  Italy. 

It  was  undertaking  to  undo  the  work  of  the  revolution  by  the 
same  process  and  the  same  methods  used  by  the  sects,’’  only  that 
everything  in  this  powerful  reaction  was  carried  on  in  daylight,  pub- 
licity becoming  the  mighty  means  in  the  hand  of  piety,  charity, 
and  loyalty  to  overthrow  the  tyranny  of  human  respect. 

Ho  one  who  has  not  bestowed  a careful  study  on  this  great  move- 
ment among  the  Catholic  youth  of  Italy,  especially  during  the  last 
ten  years,  can  appreciate  how  powerful,  how  irresistible  is  the  tide  of 
generous  and  enlightened  piety  which  has  been  gathering  strength, 
rising  and  spreading  all  over  the  land,  the  cheering  and  Idessed 
promise  of  an  era  not  far  distant,  when  such  laws  as  ‘Uhe  Clerical 
Abuses  Bill  of  1877  ” will  seem  an  evil  dream  of  the  feverish  past. 

An  address  of  the  Roman  Patriciate,”  or  body  of  Roman  nobil- 
ity, to  the  Catholic  associations  throughout  the  world,  was  published 
while  the  Piedmontese  usurpation  was  terrorizing  over  Rome,  confis- 
cating, plundering,  and  desecrating.  Here  it  is,  like  the  rainbow 
spanning  the  valley  tlirough  which  the  inundation  is  sweeping  tri- 
umphant and  resistless. 

The  strong  proofs  given  by  you  of  devotion  to  the  sacred  per- 
son of  the  Holy  Pather,  and  the  imprescriptible  rights  of  the  Holy 
See,  have  deeply  moved  the  hearts  of  the  Catholics  of  Rome,  who 
feel  that  their  own  duties  are  even  more  binding  than  yours.  The 
immense  majority  of  them  have  never  ceased  to  be  faithful,  and, 
with  the  help  of  God,  are  firmly  resolved  never  to  depart  from  the 
path  of  duty.  As  a witness  to  this,  they  invoke  the  history  of  the 
past,  and  the  occurrences  of  the  present  time  unaltered  by  passion 
and  calumny. 

The  clergy  as  well  as  the  laity,  the  nobles  as  well  as  the  simple 
citizens,  the  man  of  science  and  the  artist,  are  alike  moved  by  the 
voice  of  conscience,  of  gratitude,  and  honest  patriotism. 

Wherefore,  as  under  existing  circumstances  no  other  means  are 
allowed  them  than  protestations  and  daily  acts  of  loyal  devotion, 
undeterred  by  insults  and  sacrifices,  they  unite  themselves  in  heart 
with  you,  and  like  one  soul  lift  their  voices  in  supplication  to  God, 
beseeching  him  to  put  an  end  to  the  cruel  trial  to  which  he  has 
subjected  the  Church  and  the  city  of  Rome,  by  him  chosen  to  be 
the  seat  of  his  vicar  on  earth. 


460 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Perseverance  in  prayer,  faith  inviolate,  and  firm  hope,  will  has- 
ten the  hour  of  his  mercy.”* 

To  be  sure,  there  were  among  the  Eoman  patricians  some  six  who 
turned  their  faces  toward  the  cross  of  Savoy,  and  worshiped  it  as 
the  harbinger  of  prosperity  and  new  honors  to  their  families.  It  is 
sad  to  read  among  these  few  names  that  of  Doria,  especially  dear  to 
Catholic  hearts  as  it  has  been  made  by  one  of  the  loveliest  and  latest 
flowers  of  holiness  blooming  on  the  ancient  stem  of  Shrewsbury. 

In  the  first  days  of  November,  two  hundred  and  forty  of  the  patri- 
cian ladies  of  Kome,  ever  foremost  in  good  works  and  in  devotion  to 
the  Holy  Father,  gathered  around  him  to  present  him  an  address  of 
their  own,  and  a suitable  offering  in  money.  They  represented  one 
hundred  and  fifty  noble  families  ; and  5,000  names  of  the  middle  class 
were  also  signed  to  this  address.  Thenceforward  during  many  a 
month  these  noble  matrons  would  not  open  their  palaces  to  the  usual 
crowds  of  friends  and  visitors  ; they,  too,  would  mourn  while  their 
parent  and  sovereign  was  in  grief  and  captivity. 

There  had,  then,  been  wrought  a blessed  change  in  the  souls  of 
the  Eoman  nobility  since  November,  1848,  when  the  murder  of 
Eossi,  the  glorification  of  the  murderer,  and  the  savage  assault  on 
the  Quirinal  produced  a sort  of  stupor  and  paralysis  among  men  high- 
born and  naturally  high-principled.  They  had  learned,  in  the  inter- 
val, to  brave  the  fury  of  the  mob,  and  the  pelting  of  the  incessant 
storm  of  derision  and  ribaldry  let  loose  against  everything  Catholic. 


* The  names  appended  to  this  address,  should  he  given  to  the  reader  : Sigis- 
mond  Prince  Chigi,  Orinete  Marchese  Cavalletti,  Matteo  Matthieu  Antici  Mat- 
tei,  Tomaso  Prince  Antici  Mattei,  Don  Filippo  of  the  Dukes  of  Scotti,  Prince 
Campagnano,  Marchese  Patrizi,  Prince  Aldohrandini,  Prince  Rospigliosi,  Pietro 
Aldohrandino  Prince  Sarsini,  Commendatore  Di  Rossi,  Prince  Clemente  Allieri, 
Prince  Lancellotti,  Duke  Pio  Grazioli,  Camillo  Prince  Massimo,  Prince  of  Ar- 
Boli,  Prince  of  Orsini,  Marchese  Fillipo  Mattei  Antici,  Prince  Enrico  Barberini, 
Maurizio  Cavaletti,  Prince  Eugenio  Ruspoli,  K.  M.  ; Annibale  Count  Moroni, 
Prince  Giovanni  Ruspoli,  Livio  Prince  Odescalchi,  Carlo  Count  Cardelli,  Prince 
Giovanni  Chigi,  Marchese  Lavaggi,  Commendatore  Datti,  Duke  Giuseppe  Caf- 
farelli.  Count  Francesco  Sermi,  Professore  Gugliardi,  Professore  Jacometti, 
Barone  Visconti,  Padre  Angelo  Secchi,  S.  J.  ; Marchese  Luigi  Serlupi-Crescenzi, 
lifarchese  Angelo  Vittelleschi,  Professore  Benzoni,  Marchese  Lepri,  Don  Alfonso 
Theodoli,  Prince  Borghese,  Prince  Viano,  Francesco  Marchese  Serlupi,  Prince 
Giustiniani-Bandini,  Giuseppe  Macclii  Count  Cellere,  Prince  Baldassare  Bon- 
compagni  (Piombino),  Duke  Salviati,  Fillipo  Count  C’ini,  Pio  Marchese  Ca 
pranica,  Alessandro  Capranica,  Marchese  Sacchetti,  Marchese  Camillo  Sacchetti^ 
Virginio  Count  Vespignani. 


General  Fidelity  to  the  Holy  Father,  461 

Nor  was  the  change  for  the  better  less  remarkable  in  the  officers 
of  the  pontifical  army,  the  magistracy  and  officials  connected  with 
every  branch  of  the  former  administration.  Of  586  officers,  only 
58  accepted  service  under  Victor  Emmanuel,  though  all  were  oifered 
the  same  rank  in  the  Italian  army.  Of  46  magistrates,  5 consented 
to  retain  their  office,  and  of  the  1,439  persons  employed  under  the 
treasury,  1,135  preferred  absolute  destitution  to  the  dishonor  of  serv- 
ing the  new  masters  of  Rome.  And  so  in  proportion  with  the  other 
branches. 

The  students  in  the  ecclesiastical  schools  manifested  a spirit  no 
less  praiseworthy.  The  Roman  College,  which  counted  985  students, 
was  taken  from  the  J esuits,  and  a government  lyceum,  with  a technical 
or  commercial  school  attached,  replaced  the  grandest  Catholic  school 
of  modern  times.  The  technical  school  was  principally  patronized 
by  the  Jews ; and,  as  the  purpose  of  the  government  was  evidently 
to  discountenance,  and  eventually  to  destroy,  classical  studies,  only 
126  pupils  remained  in  the  higher  department,  as  against  the  former 
number  of  985.  The  falling  off  in  the  two  other  great  Roman 
establishments  of  the  Apollinare’’  and  ‘‘La  Pace,”  was  no  less 
remarkable. 

But  the  new  government  was  resolved  to  set  matters  right  in  its 
own  sense,  and  to  punish  the  eeclesiastical  students  in  a way  they 
little  dreamed  of  : a law  was  soon  passed,  and  enforced  with  inflexi- 
ble and  undiscriminating  rigor,  compelling  all  ecclesiastical  students 
to  serve  for  a term  of  years  in  the  regular  army,  thereby  destroying 
in  almost  all  cases  every  hope  of  pursuing  their  vocation. 

The  same  diabolical  hostility  not  only  to  the  vital  interests  of  the 
Church  in  Rome  and  in  Italy,  but  to  the  existence  and  increase  of 
the  Catholic  Church  throughout  the  world,  induced  the  Italian  Par- 
liament to  hasten  to  suppress  the  great  parent-establishments  of  the 
Religious  Orders  in  Rome,  from  which  the  Holy  See  drew  men 
skilled  in  all  sacred  science  and  the  knowledge  of  government  to 
compose  the  various  congregations  and  boards  which  made  up  the 
vast  machinery  of  administration  for  the  universal  Church.  These, 
as  well  as  the  great  missionary  colleges,  were  in  very  truth  like  the 
fruitful  and  cherished  nurseries  of  the  priesthood  and  the  Catholic 
apostleship.  To  strike  at  them  was,  in  the  estimation  of  the  Pied- 
montese rulers,  to  strike  at  the  very  heart  of  the  Church.  Of  the 
agony  of  soul  endured  by  Pius  IX.,  while  all  these  splendid  crea- 
tions of  Catholic  faith,  generosity,  and  genius,  built  up  by  the  love 


462 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


and  gratitude  of  all  tlie  nations  of  Christendom  in  a long  course  of 
ages,  were  ruthlessly  swept  away  by  the  modern  Vandals,  we  need 
say  nothing.  The  year  1871  had  da’wned  on  his  misery  and  helpless- 
ness, that  year  which  was  to  be  the  twenty-fifth  of  his  pontificate, 
his  ^‘Pontifical  Jubilee,”  and  could  he  only  survive  till  the  23d  day  of 
August,  he  alone,  among  the  long  line  of  bishops  of  Rome  would 
“see  the  days  of  Peter.” 

As  the  Lent  of  1871  was  approaching,  the  Holy  Father,  according 
to  custom,  called  around  him  on  February  the  16  th  the  parish 
priests  of  Rome  and  the  preachers  for  the  Lenten  season,  and  deliv- 
ered to  them  a short  exhortation.  “During  the  reign  of  Pagan 
Rome,”  he  began,  “a  current  saying  was,  Facere  et  pati  fortia,  Ro- 
manum  est  (To  do  and  to  suffer  heroically  is  characteristic  of  the  Ro- 
mans). One  of  the  early  apologists  of  the  Christian  religion,  address- 
ing himself  to  persecutors  like  those  who  prevail  at  this  moment,  ap- 
plied the  saying  to  the  professors  of  that  religion,  and  wrote  it.  Fa- 
cere  et  pati,  Christianorum  est ! 

“With  the  present  conduct  of  the  Roman  people  before  my  eyes, 
I can  justly  apply  these  words  to  them.  . . . Do  we  not  daily 

witness  the  great  things  done  in  opposition  to  evil  ? Noble  associa- 
tions have  sprung  up  for  the  purpose  of  expounding  and  defending 
the  truth,  and  for  succoring  the  needy.  The  churches  are  crowded, 
people  seek  the  word  of  God  with  avidity,  and  show  an  equal  thirst 
for  the  grace  of  the  sacraments. 

“Ido  not  go  abroad;  but  you  all  knowhow  much  the  Romans 
are  doing  at  this  moment  to  counteract  by  good  works  the  efforts  of 
falsehood  and  immorality.  Well,  then,  precisely  because  I cannot  go 
abroad,  let  the  parish  priests  and  preachers  say  tliat  the  Pope  cannot 
but  bless  this  people,  and  approve  and  encourage  them. 

“Say,  moreover,  that  heads  of  families  should  not  venture  to 
bring  their  children  to  the  theaters,  where  the  performances  outrage 
religion  and  morality,  and  where  licentiousness  and  blasphemy  stalk 
triumphant  over  the  scene.  Such  places  are  forbidden  to  Christian 
families,  where  they  should  behold  spectacles  insulting  to  God,  to 
their  faith,  to  the  Church,  and  to  every  most  sacred  law. 

“Say  also  that  I am  proud  of  the  Romans,  and  thank  them  for 
their  patient  endurance  of  present  trials.  Especially  do  I thank  the 
large  number  of  officials  who  have  set  their  honor,  loyalty,  con- 
science, and  the  most  cruel  privations,  above  a preferment  which 
they  regarded  as  a felonious  betrayal  of  my  trust  in  them.  Tell  them 


Po7itiJical  ytibilee  oj  i8yi,  463 

< 

‘that  I know  it  all,  and  tliat  I mean  to  bless  them  as  men  wbo  do 
and  suffer  like  true  Romans  ! ” 

During  tlie  carnival,  as  well  as  before  it,  the  only  families  wbo 
opened  tlieir  saloons  were  those  of  Prince  Doria,  Duke  of  Teano, 
and  Prince  Pallavicini.  Not  one  of  the  remaining  nobility  had 
opened  their  houses  since  September  the  20th,  and  all  who  could, 
conveniently,  absented  themselves  from  Rome  during  the  carnival. 

To  the  entire  Catholic  world,  to  Rome  and  Italy  in  particular, 
this  year  of  the  ^^Pontiffcal  Jubilee”  was  one  of  unprecedented  in- 
terest and  filial  enthusiasm.  There  were  but  few  who  hoped  that 
Pius  IX.  would  live  to  see  his  ‘^Episcopal  Jubilee,”  the  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  his  consecration  in  1827  as  Archbishop  of  Spoleto. 
And  so,  the  Catholic  heart  in  its  sympathy  for  the  sufferer,  its  de- 
votion to  the  parent,  its  veneration  for  the  virtues  which  adorned 
the  pontiff  and  the  man,  resolved  to  pour  itself  out  at  the  feet  of  the 
captive  in  homage  such  as  Pope  had  never  received  since  Christian- 
ity first  dawned  on  the  world. 

The  movement  for  the  annexation  of  the  Romagna  had  begun  in 
Bologna,  much  against  the  will  of  all  that  Bologna  contained  of 
what  was  most  ancient  and  noble  and  venerable.  Bologna  deter- 
mined in  this  jubilee  year  to  be  the  first  at  the  Holy  Father’s  feet. 

On  February  the  23d  the  deputation  was  presented  at  the  Vati- 
can. All  Rome  was  astir;  every  antechamber  in  the  palace  was 
filled  with  anxious  throngs.  Alfonso  Rubbiani  headed  the  deputa- 
tion, the  other  members  being  the  Marquis  Annibale  Maroigli,  Prince 
Alfonso  Ercolani,  Marquis  Alessandro  Guidotti,  Count  Vicenzo  Ra- 
nuzzi.  Marquis  Alfonso  Malvezzi,  Marquis  Francesco  ^lalvezzi.  Dr. 
Pietro  Gardini,  Count  Marco  Bentivoglio,  and  Dr.  Guido  Bagni. 

The  Holy  Father  derived  peculiar  happiness  from  the  presence  of 
these  gentlemen,  who  were  all  personally  known  to  him ; and  his 
countenance,  as  he  entered  the  presence-chamber,  was  radiant  with 
joy.  Signor  Rubbiani  read  the  address,  replete  with  noble  senti- 
ments and  assurances  of  grateful  and  undying  devotion ; and  then  he 
presented  three  volumes,  magnificently  bound  in  red  morocco,  bear- 
ing the  arms  of  the  Pope  and  those  of  the  city,  with  the  inscription, 
Pio  IX,  Bononia  fideliSy  and  containing  31,854  signatures  from  the 
city  and  suburbs  of  Bologna ; the  treasurer  of  the  deputation.  Mar- 
quis Francesco  ]Malvezzi  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  Holy  Father  a beauti- 
ful purse  embroidered  by  a noble  lady,  and  filled  with  13,173  fraucs. 

The  Pope,  in  his  answer,  expressed  the  exquisite  delight  it  gave 


464 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


him  to  receive  such  noble  representatives  of  the  Catholic  youth  of 
the  Komagna,  praised  them  for  their  open  and  manly  devotion  to 
Holy  Church,  and  encouraged  all  to  cherish  this  spirit  which  alone 
could  withstand  the  progress  of  revolutionary  principles.  Followed 
by  the  Bolognese  gentlemen  and  his  court,  the  Holy  Father  next 
visited  the  crowded  antechambers,  where  a large  number  of  English 
and  Americans,  Protestants  for  the  most  part,  were  addressed  by  him 
in  French,  all  kneeling  to  receive  his  blessing,  and  several,  even 
among  the  Protestants,  offering  large  sums  as  '^Peter’s  pence ’’to 
the  dethroned  pontiff.  On  the  5th  of  March  the  Austrian  deputa- 
tion, numbering  forty- three  members,  were  received  at  the  Vatican, 
with  a like  address  and  a large  offering. 

As  spring  advanced  and  was  succeeded  by  summer  these  deputa- 
tions came  in  successively,  cheering  the  Holy  Father  in  his  deepen- 
ing affliction.  For  not  a week  passed  without  adding  some  mon- 
strous act  of  rapine  and  sacrilege  to  those  already  committed  by  the 
Piedmontese.  E;ot  content  with  the  suppression  of  the  religious 
orders  and  the  sequestration  of  all  their  property  and  revenues,  the 
agents  of  Victor  Emmanuel  took  under  their  exclusive  control  the 
management  of  all  the  charitable  institutions  of  Eome  known  as 
Opere  Pie,  It  was  in  vain  that  Cardinal  Patrizi  protested  in  the 
Pope’s  name,  and  that  all  the  bishops  of  the  surrounding  territory 
joined  him  in  a still  more  solemn  protestation.  They  received  an  im- 
pudent answer,  in  which  they  were  lectured  about  being  unchari- 
table while  pleading  for  charity,”  and  the  orphans,  the  infirm,  the 
aged,  and  houseless  of  Borne  passed  under  the  tender  care  of  Victor 
Emmanuel’s  conscience,  and  were  despoiled  and  disinherited  forever  ! 

On  the  22d  of  April  the  French  ambassador,  the  Count  d’Har- 
court,  arrived  in  Eome.  He  had  been  purposely  selected  by  M. 
Thiers,  President  of  the  French  Eepublic,  because  of  his  known  de- 
votion to  the  Holy  See,  and  the  true  Eoman  people  were  not  slow 
in  showing  their  appreciation  of  the  compliment  and  their  respect 
for  the  name  borne  by  the  ambassador. 

Over  60,000  cards  within  the  space  of  a few  days  were  left  at  his 
residence,  some  visitors  being  charged  with  several  hundred,  so  anx- 
ious were  the  Eomans  to  prove  that  the  change  of  government  was 
not  of  their  making. 

While  the  deputations  from  Germany  and  England  and  America 
were  succeeding  each  other,  one,  above  all  others,  moved  the  soul  of 
Pius  IX.  It  was  a deputation  from  the  poor  women  in  Eome  ; and 


The  Women  of  Irela^id  Foremost. 


465 


he  gave  them  precedence  of  all  others.  Thirteen  hundred  of  them 
were  admitted  by  his  order  into  the  privileged  Hall  of  the  Consistory, 
and  there  they  read  an  address  ^‘To  the  Father  of  the  Poor,’’  and 
laid  at  his  feet  a sum  of  money  made  up  of  the  centesimi,  cents,” 
lovingly  given  to  the  heap  by  hands  and  hearts  wFich  Pius  IX.  had 
often  bounteously  filled.  We  cannot  dwell  on  the  touching  scene, 
and  the  Holy  Father’s  most  beautiful  answer  to  these,  the  dearest 
ones  in  all  his  wide  flock. 

It  so  happened  that  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  his  election, 
Friday,  the  16th  of  June,  coincided  with  the  Feast  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  No  one  had  done  so  much  as  Pius  IX.  to  foster  and  propa- 
gate the  personal  gratitude  and  devotion  of  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  in  the  Catholic  world  toward  the  heart  of  the  Divine  Sufferer 
of  Calvary ; and  lo ! this  twenty-fifth  pontifical  anniversary  which 
Pope  had  never  beheld  since  Peter,  fell  on  the  day  specially  set  apart 
for  commemorating  Christ’s  unutterable  love  for  our  souls  ! We  can- 
not but  remember  how  ardent,  how  unanimous,  how  universal  were 
the  prayers  poured  out  that  day  to  him  who  is  the  Crucified  Head 
of  the  Church  in  favor  of  the  venerable  man  who  filled  his  place  on 
earth,  and  who  bore  so  visibly  in  the  glorious  impress  of  suffering 
the  likeness  to  the  Divine  Model. 

All  over  Ireland  and  England,  and  wherever  their  languages  were 
spoken  in  the  worship  of  the  heart,  all  over  the  earth,  on  that  16th 
of  June,  there  went  up  to  heaven  prayers  for  Pius  IX.  The  address 
of  the  women  of  Ireland  bore  200,000  signatures,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  £3,000,  while  the  former  Pontifical  Zouaves  sent  by  tele- 
gram a stanza  to  be  sung  in  honor  of  the  day  by  their  old  compan- 
ions in  arms  resident  in  Pome. 

The  deputations  with  their  addresses  and  offerings  continued  to 
pour  in  after  the  16th,  for  it  was  only  on  the  23d  of  August  that  the 
pontificate  of  Pius  IX.  was  to  equal  in  duration  ^‘the  days  of  Peter.” 
Victor  Emmanuel  made  his  solemn  entry  into  Eome  on  July  the 
2d.  The  true-hearted  Eomans  knew  that  from  that  day  they  were 
bound  to  show  the  Holy  Father  greater  reverence  than  ever.  On 
the  24th  of  July  the  central  committee  of  the  ‘^Eoman  Society  for 
Catholic  Interests,”  with  the  heads  of  the  chief  sub-committees  in 
Eome,  waited  on  the  Pope,  and  presented  him  with  volumes  con- 
taining 27,161  signatures  of  men  Eoman  born,  and  of  twenty-one 
years  of  age  and  upwards.  To  every  signature  was  appended  the 
number  of  the  signer’s  residence  in  Eome.  The  Holy  Father,  in 


466 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


replying  to  the  brief  and  manly  address  of  Prince  Campagnano,  and 
after  praising  the  society,  its  noble  aims  and  equally  noble  labors, 
concluded  thus : 

‘^They  say  that  I am  weary.  Yes,  I am  weary  of  seeing  so  much 
wrong,  so  much  injustice,  so  much  disorder.  I weary  of  seeing 
religion  daily  outraged  in  a city  which  was  to  the  world  a model  of 
practical  faith  and  morality.  I weary  of  the  oppression  practiced  on 
the  innocent,  of  the  outrages  heaped  on  God’s  ministers,  of  the 
profanation  of  all  that  I most  love  and  venerate.  Yes,  I am  weary ; 
but  I am  not  disposed  to  let  my  arms  fall.  ...  I am  not  dis- 
posed to  treat  with  injustice,  or  to  desist  from  the  fulfillment  of  my 
duty.  Thanks  to  God,  in  this  sense  and  for  this  work  I do  not 
weary,  and  I hope  I never  shall.” 

These  signatures  ought  to  make  our  sympathizers  with  Piedmont- 
ism  reflect  a little  on  the  very  easy  credence  given  by  them  to  the 
alleged  ‘^almost  unanimity”  of  Eomans  in  voting  at  the  preceding 
October  elections  for  Victor  Emmanuel. 

One  little  incident  must  be  told  here  which  will  throw  light  on 
many  obscure  parts  of  the  Eoman  history  of  that  year,  and  show  as 
well  that  Pius  IX.  was  still  true  to  those  he  loved  as  the  Abbate 
Mastai.  Under  his  government  about  $300  a month  was  allowed 
from  the  treasury  to  the  Asylum  of  Tata  Giovanni.  In  the  month 
of  August,  1871,  this  grant  was  suppressed  by  the  humanitarian 
government  of  Victor  Emmanuel.  Xo  sooner  had  the  Holy  Father 
heard  of  this  than  he  sent  the  needed  sum  out  of  his  own  purse, 
bidding  the  superiors  look  to  him  in  future  for  support. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


Celebkatioit  of  August  the  23d,  1871 — Enthusiasm  of  the  Ital- 
ian Deputations — The  Pope  Declines  a Golden  Theone 
AND  the  Title  of  Gkeat — Suppressions  and  Confiscations 
BY  the  Piedmontese — The  Pope  nobly  Defends  the  Jesuits 
— He  Denounces  the  Law  of  Guarantees”  as  a Fraud — 
Origin  and  Authors  of  the  Persecution,  in  Germany — 
German  Catholic  Congresses  — Catholic  Congress  in 
Venice — The  first  American  Pilgrims — The  Layal  Uni- 
versity AND  THE  Centenary  of  the  Church  of  Quebec — 
, Atrocious  Persecution  in  Poland. 

1871-1876. 

WE  should  find  it  hard  to  turn  away  so  soon  from  the  many 
events  which  consoled  the  Holy  Father  during  this  year  of  his 
Pontifical  Jubilee,  were  it  not  that  so  much  that  is  no  less  important 
and  no  less  interesting  yet  remains  to  be  told. 

The  23d  of  August  came,  completing  the  exact  number  of  ^'the 
days  of  Peter,”  twenty-five  years,  two  months,  and  seven  days.  In 
future  ages  the  immortal  line  of  pontiffs  will  have  to  look  back 
to  ^^the  days  of  Pius.”  He  offered  up  the  holy  sacrifice  in  the  Six- 
tine  Chapel,  wishing  to  be  as  long  as  possible  alone  with  the  divine 
majesty  on  that  auspicious  morning.  There  was  no  change  in  the 
order  of  the  day.  At  half-past  ten  he  proceeded  as  usual  to  the 
throne-room,  where  all  the  prelates  and  officers  of  his  household  were 
assembled  to  pay  their  homage.  There  was  an  affectionate  address 
by  the  senior  prelate,  a presentation  of  a most  beautiful  ciborium  in 
memory  of  the  day  ; there  was  an  address  from  the  Catholic  Univer- 
sity of  J)ublin,  and  another  from  Right  Reverend  Dr.  Horan,  bishop 
of  Kingston,  Canada,  with  a large  offering  in  money.  And  then 
came  the  turn  of  Catholic  Italy  to  testify  anew  its  love  and  fidelity. 
The  seminary  of  Montefiascone,  near  Florence,  the  Xoble  Guard, 
the  superior  officers  of  the  papal  army,  the  Roman  nobility,  the 
learned  professions,  the  merchants,  had  one  and  all  words  of  filial  veU' 

467 


468 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


eration  to  utter,  and  rich  offerings  they  deemed  too  poor  for  Christ’s 
vicar  and  his  immense  family  of  the  needy.  But  every  room  was 
filled  with  a reverent  and  expectant  crowd,  and  through  all  Pius  IX. 
passed,  with  all  the  signs  of  robust  health  about  his  person,  his  step 
still  elastic,  his  eyes  lit  up  with  the  glow  of  evident  satisfaction,  and 
his  words  bestowed  lovingly  on  each  as  he  passed. 

But  in  the  great  consistorial  hall  a surprise  awaited  him.  Bologna 
had  sent  her  noble  son.  Dr.  Acquaderni,  with  a numerous  band  of 
young  men,  and  there  was  the  Duke  della  Kegina,  with  his  staff  of 
Neapolitan  youths  and  noblemen,  surrounded  with  the  sons  of  Ireland, 
England,  France,  and  America ; the  foreigners,  however,  evidently 
come  more  to  enjoy  this  family-feast  of  Italians,  than  to  manifest 
their  own  sentiments,  sincere  and  deep  though  they  were. 

The  pontifical  mass  that  morning  in  the  Sixtine  Chapel  had  been 
said  for  Italy,  for  them  principally ; and  they  brought  an  offering, 
an  alms  of  150,000  francs,  in  return  for  the  fatherly  love  and  the 
divine  oblation.  The  Neapolitans  had  brought  a portable  throne,  of 
rich  material  and  exquisite  workmanship,  to  be  used  by  the  Holy 
Father  on  the  great  festivals  of  the  Church.  He  was  much  affected 
by  the  addresses  read  to  him  from  the  three  Italian  deputations,  and 
replied  briefiy  and  with  great  happiness.  He  was  like  the  traveler  in 
the  Gospel  who  had  fallen  among  robbers  ; they  had  despoiled  him, 
and  wounded  him,  and  left  him  in  a desperate  plight.  But  Catholic 
Young  Italy  had  been  to  him  the  good  Samaritan,  caring  for  him, 
pouring  oil  and  wine  into  his  wounds,  and  contributing  so  gener- 
ously, so  lovingly  to  his  needs,  and  that  of  the  many  who  now  looked 
up  to  him  alone.  But  more  precious  far,  and  far  more  grateful  to 
God  and  to  himself,  was  the  zeal  which  now  fired  our  Catholic  youth 
for  the  interests  of  the  Church  and  the  spiritual  welfare  of  souls. 

It  was  an  enthusiastic  crowd,  and  many  of  them,  in  leaving  the 
Vatican,  had  to  face  the  jeers  and  insults  of  the  vile  crew  who  had 
survived  1848,  and  were  now  exultant  over  the  helplessness  and  bond- 
age of  their  once  sovereign  and  benefactor.  Despite  the  presence  of 
royalty,  and  of  all  manner  of  counter-demonstrations,  the  Eomans 
and  their  Italian  guests  had  resolved  to  crown  that  day  among  days 
by  a grand  Te  Deumin  St.  John'Lateran,  the  seat  of  the  Koman 
Patii.^rchate.  The  immense  church  was  unable  to  contain  the 
thousands  who  wished  to  make  a solemn  act  of  faith  in  the  immor- 
tality of  Peter’s  See,  and  to  render  public  homage  to  the  sole  lawful 
sovereignty  which  Rome  could  ever  acknowledge.  The  vast  porticoes 


The  Golden  Throne  and  Title  of  Great!'  469 


and  the  piazza  were  filled  with  the  numbers  who  could  find  no  place 
inside,  and  they  joined  with  them  in  the  alternate  verses  of  the 
Ambrosian  Hymn,  sung  with  a power  and  a heartfelt  entliusiasm 
which  stilled  into  something  like  awe  the  ribald  crowd  posted  at 
every  corner  and  waiting  in  the  neighboring  streets  to  renew  the  im- 
precations and  vile  insults  heard  that  morning  near  the  Vatican. 

It  was  well,  it  was  an  exceedingly  great  blessing,  that  the  living 
faith  which  the  young  generation  of  Italy  needed,  should  be  thus 
nursed  amid  the  storm,  like  the  pine  of  the  Apennines,  symbolical  of 
Italy  itself.  Its  roots  would  have  a deeper  and  a wider  hold  of  the 
parent  earth,  and  no  wind  that  might  blow  should  destroy  or  impair 
its  strength. 

But  there  is  one  fact  which  occurred  early  in  that  same  month  of 
August,  and  which  deserves  to  be  treasured  up  in  the  memory  of  all 
who  love  Pius  IX. 

Chief  among  the  members  of  the  Eoman  nobility  distinguished 
for  their  heroic  zeal  in  ‘^promoting  Catholic  interests”  was  the 
Marchese  Cavaletti,  ex-Senator  of  Rome.  He  conceived  the  idea — 
surely  a natural  one  in  that  year  of  the  Pontifical  Jubilee — of  pre- 
senting the  Holy  Father  with  a throne  of  pure  gold,  and  the  title  of 
Pius  the  Great,  the  throne  to  be  a common  ofiering  from  all  na- 
tions. A beautiful  address  was  drawn  up,  translated  into  the  prin- 
cipal European  languages,  and  addressed  to  the  Catholic  associations 
throughout  the  world.  The  Catholic  press  adopted  the  idea  at  once 
and  advocated  it  most  eloquently.  But  the  Holy  Father,  coming 
to  hear  of  it,  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Marquis  : — 

My  Dear  Marquis,  Seiiator,  akd  Son  in  Christ  : — I am 
deeply  moved  by  the  innumerable  proofs  of  filial  affection  which  are 
given  me  from  every  corner  of  the  Catholic  world.  They  place  me 
under  obligations  of  sincere  gratitude,  which  I endeavor  to  discharge 
by  praying  for  all  these  children  of  the  Church,  and  by  offering  for 
them  every  week,  at  the  holy  mass,  the  sacrifice  of  infinite  value. 
This  same,  please  God,  I shall  apply  on  the  23d  instant  for  a gen- 
eral purpose,  asking  God  to  liberate  Italy  from  the  manifold  evils 
which  daily  oppress  her  more  and  more. 

‘‘I  was  surprised  quite  lately,  most  beloved  son — for  you  have 
ever  been  most  devoted  to  this  Holy  See — I was,  I say,  surprised  to 
hear  of  two  novel  and  unexpected  instances  of  filial  love  which  good 
Catholics  were  preparing  to  manifest  toward  me,  by  presenting  me 


470  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 

with  a pontifical  throne  of  gold,  and  by  adding  the  title  of  Great  to 
that  of  Pius  IX. 

“ With  my  heart  on  my  lips,  and  with  all  the  simplicity  of  a father 
who  tenderly  cherishes  his  children  in  Christ  Jesus,  I shall  here  an- 
swer this  twofold  proposal. 

‘^With  regard  to  the  valued  gift  of  a golden  throne,  it  imme- 
diately occurred  to  me  that  the  purchase  money  contributed  by  the 
faithful,  should  be  employed  in  buying  the  freedom  of  young  eccle- 
siastical students  from  military  service,  which  a wicked  law,  hitherto 
unheard  of,  forces  them  to  undergo.  The  clergy  are  the  golden 
throne  which  supports  the  Church ; hence  it  is  that  the  present 
rulers  direct  their  efforts  principally' against  the  clergy,  despoiling 
them,  persecuting  them,  and  rendering  vocations  to  the  priesthood 
exceedingly  difiBcult.  Thus  they  cut  off  the  requisite  number  of  sub- 
stitutes in  the  hierarchy,  decimated  as  it  is  daily  by  death  and  perse- 
cution, and  leave  vacancies  which  it  is  impossible  to  fill,  to  the  great 
detriment  of  the  Church. 

^^It  would  appear  that  the  persons  at  present  governing  have  made 
it  their  duty  to  destroy  everything,  especially  whatever  is  connected 
with  religion  and  the  Church.  While  they  cannot  sufficiently  laud 
and  enrich  churchmen  who  are  in  rebellion  against  their  superiors, 
or  who  have  openly  apostatized  from  the  faith,  they  systematically 
keep  up  their  ungodly  policy  of  excluding  from  the  country  numbers 
of  good  men,  for  no  other  reason  than  because  the  latter  are  opposed 
to  their  doctrines  and  anti-Christian  measures.  . . . 

As  to  the  proposal  to  add  the  term  ^ Great  ’ to  my  name,  it  recalls 
to  my  mind  a sentence  of  the  Divine  Master.  As  he  was  traveling 
through  the  towns  of  Judaea,  some  one  of  his  admirers  cried  out, 
^Good  Master;’  but  Jesus  at  once  asked:  ‘Why  callest  thou  me 
good  ? Xone  is  good  but  one,  God’  (St.  Mark  x.  18).  If  therefore 
Christ,  while  still  among  us,  declared  that  God  alone  is  good,  why 
should  not  his  unworthy  vicar  say  that  God  alone  is  great  ? — great, 
because  of  the  favors  he  bestows  on  that  same  vicar ; great,  because 
of  the  support  which  he  gives  his  Church ; great,  in  the  infinite 
patience  shown  toward  his  enemies.  . . . 

“This  being  so,  I feel  impelled  to  repeat  what  I said  above — I 
desire  that  the  money  collected  be  spent,  not  in  purchasing  a throne 
of  gold,  but  in  ransoming  these  young  clerical  candidates ; and, 
secondly,  I wish  to  hear  my  name  pronounced  as  it  has  always 
been,  anxious  only  that  all  should  repeat  it  to  the  praise  of  the 


Further  Suppressions  and  Confiscations,  471 

diyine  majesty — ^ Great  is  the  Lord,  and  exceedingly  to  be  praised  ! ' 
(Psalm  xlvii. ) 

^^Tliis  is  the  wish  of  a father  to  his  dearly  beloved  children,  and 
with  this  wish  he  renews  the  assurances  of  his  love  and  gratitude 
toward  them.  . . . 

**  The  Vatican,  August  the  8th,  1871.” 


Before  the  end  of  this  book  the  reader  will  be  able  to  see  how 
truly  one  pronounced  both  good  and  great  by  the  voice  of  two  hun- 
dred millions  of  Christians,  though  he  might  refuse  the  golden 
throne  thus  proffered  to  him,  could  not  help  being  enthroned,  as 
man  never  had  been  before,  in  the  hearts  of  his  immense  family. 

To  the  enthusiastic  demonstration  of  August  the  23d,  the  Pied- 
montese government  replied  by  decreeing  the  immediate  suppression 
of  six  monasteries,  and  warning  thirty-four  others  that  the  adminis- 
tration would  soon  need  them.  There  was,  too,  a piece  of  cowardly 
ingratitude  committed  toward  France,  still  struggling  through  the 
enormous  difficulties  of  her  freedom  from  foreign  invasion  and  fierce 
civil  war.  Just  as  the  23d  of  Augaist  was  approaching,  the  Lady 
Superior  of  the  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  Trinita  de’  Monti  re- 
ceived (on  the  19th)  a note  from  the  municipality  of  Pome,  saying 
that  a government  architect  was  to  visit  the  convent  on  the  morrow 
to  take  a plan  of  the  premises  in  order  to  their  being  taken  posses- 
sion of  for  civil  purposes. 

In  reply  the  Superior,  Madame  de  Bonchaud,  informed  the  muni- 
cipality that  she  could  admit  no  one  into  the  convent  ‘^without  a 
written  order  from  the  French  ambassador.”  The  Count  d’Har- 
court  was  not  the  man  to  allow  any  one  claiming  his  protection  to 
be  insulted  with  impunity.  The  Convent  of  Trinita  de’  Monti  was 
the  personal  property  of  King  Louis  XVIII.,  who  had  made  it  over 
to  the  noble  ladies  who  first  opened  in  Eome  a house  of  their  order. 
D’Harcourt  had  never  presented  himself  to  Victor  Emmanuel  since 
the  latter’s  arrival  in  Eome  : there  was  in  this  act  of  the  government 
an  attempt  at  intimidating  the  ambassador  into  obsequiousness,  and 
at  bullying  the  French  nation  in  its  hour  of  weakness.  But  D’Har- 
court acted  with  such  promptness  and  spirit  that  the  result  of  the 
affair  was  a humble  apology  from  the  rulers  of  Eome. 

They  had  their  revenge  on  the  J esuits.  Their  novitiate  and  beau- 
tiful church  of  S.  Andrea  were  seized  and  ^^appropriated  to  civil 


472 


Life  of  Pope  Phis  IX, 


purposes,”  while  tlie  reyolutionary  press  assailed  the  defenseless 
Order  with  a fresh  volley  of  outrage  and  insults. 

The  present  confiscation,  however,  was  only  one  step  more  in  the 
atrocious  course  of  persecution  begun  against  the  Jesuits  from  the 
first  entrance  of  the  Piedmontese  into  Rome.  All  the  pretended  ills 
which  the  radical  papers  laid  at  the  door  of  the  pontifical  govern- 
ment were  attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits.  The  Holy 
Father,  it  was  said,  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Order ; his  acts 
and  words  w^ere  dictated  by  them ; and  to  them  alone  it  was  due 
that  his  Holiness  refused  all  compromise  with  the  kingdom  of  Italy, 
all  effort  toward  a reconciliation  with  the  new  order  of  things.  It 
required  no  little  energy  in  the  friends  of  the  Jesuits  during  the 
autumn  and  winter  of  1870  to  protect  the  lives  of  the  fathers  from 
such  skilled  adepts  at  assassination  as  Zambianchi  and  his  veteran 
finanzieriy  who  now  thought  they  were  going  to  have  things  their 
own  way  once  more. 

Though  the  law  known  as  the  ^^Bill  of  Guarantees,”  regulating 
the  position  of  the  papacy  in  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy,  as  well  as 
the  relations  of  the  Church  and  the  State,  was  not  passed  before  May 
13th,  1871,  still,  while  it  was  under  discussion  in  the  Florentine  par- 
liament and  in  the  public  journals,  the  Civilta  Cattolica  had  been 
foremost  in  denouncing  it  for  what  it  was  and  proved  to  be — a fraud. 
As  this  periodical  was  edited  by  the  Jesuits,  and  officially  patronized 
by  the  Holy  Father,  its  denunciations  afforded  a pretext  for  the 
fierce  and  continual  attacks  on  the  Order  by  the  Piedmontese  press. 

As  no  amount  of  outrage  and  suffering  inflicted  on  the  Jesuits 
throughout  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  outside  or  inside  of  Rome,  was  ef- 
fectual in  quelling  the  indomitable  spirit  with  wffiich  they  upheld 
the  rights  of  the  Holy  See,  and  stigmatized  the  acts  of  its  spoliators, 
so  did  Pius  IX.,  when  the  darkest  hour  had  come  for  the  Order, 
stand  by  them  wdth  invincible  firmness,  and  vindicate  their  honor 
with  a w^armth  and  an  eloquence  he  scarcely  ever  equaled  in  repel- 
ling the  slanders  of  the  enemies  of  the  Church. 

In  a brief  directed  to  Cardinal  Patrizi,  his  vicar-general  in  Rome, 
and  dated  March  2d,  1871,  Pius  IX.  replies  to  the  impudent  slanders 
against  the  Jesuits,  and  at  the  same  time  denounces  the  proposed 

Bill  of  Guarantees  ” in  terms  which,  to  us,  in  1877,  read  like  a 
prophecy,  and  show,  at  least,  a thorough  insight  into  the  intentions 
of  the  hypocritical  and  unscrupulous  faction  which  swayed  the 
Italian  parliament  and  managed  its  unwieldy  puppet-king. 


Pius  IX,  Defends  the  fesuits. 


473 


''The  enemies  of  the  Church  have  at  all  times  directed  their 
attacks  against  the  Kegular  Orders,  and  among  these  the  Society  of 
Jesus  has  been  ever  the  first  to  receive  their  blows;  for  that  body 
being  more  distinguished  for  its  activity  was  rightly  considered 
as  more  hostile  to  their  designs.  This  has  been  once  more  made 
manifest  in  the  conduct  of  the  late  invaders  of  our  civil  domain. 
Not  satisfied  with  the  sacrilegious  spoliations  which  have  always 
proved  the  bane  of  the  spoiler,  their  greed  extended  to  the  posses- 
sions of  the  great  religious  families,  and  they  now  appear  to  make 
a beginning  with  the  fathers  of  the  Society  of  J esus. 

"To  create  a pretext  for  this  new  crime,  they  have  set  to  work  to 
make  the  Jesuits  hateful  to  the  people  ; they  accuse  them  of  enmity 
toward  the  present  government,  they  exaggerate  the  influence  which 
the  fathers  wield  over  us,  and  the  favor  with  which  we  regard  them, 
giving  all  to  understand  that  they  it  is  who  inspire  us  with  hostility 
toward  the  rulers  of  Eome,  and  who  so  govern  us  that  all  our  resolu- 
tions and  acts  are  controlled  by  these  religious.” 

" This  stupid  slander,  beside  representing  us  as  so  imbecile  and 
incapable  as  to  have  no  will  of  our  own,  carries  with  it  its  own 
absurdity  ; for  all  know  that  the  Eoman  pontiff,  after  imploring  the 
divine  light  and  aid,  acts  and  commands  as  it  seems  right  and  useful 
to  the  Church,  while  in  matters  of  very  great  importance  it  is  his  wont 
to  ask  the  advice  of  persons,  no  matter  to  what  degree,  or  condition, 
or  Eegular  Order  they  may  belong,  who  are  most  skilled  in  the 
matter  before  him,  and  can  give  upon  it  the  wisest  and  most 
prudent  counsel. 

" Not  unfrequently  do  we  also  call  upon  the  fathers  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  committing  to  them  various  offices,  especially  those  per- 
taining to  the  holy  ministry,  and  in  these  they  have  never  failed  to 
display  that  carefulness  and  zeal  so  often  praised  by  our  predecessors. 

"But  this  most  just  love  and  esteem  of  ours  for  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  which  has  rendered  such  illustrious  services  to  the  Church,  the 
Holy  See,  and  the  Christian  people,  is  a far  different  thing  from 
that  servile  obsequiousness  imagined  by  our  slanderers.  We  repel 
that  calumny  with  indignation,  both  in  our  own  name  and  in  that  of 
the  humble  and  devoted  fathers. 

" This  we  resolved  to  say  to  you.  Venerable  Brother,  in  order  to 
expose  the  intrigue  now  got  up  against  the  Society,  and  to  put  in 
their  true  light  our  sentiments,  so  misrepresented  and  perverted,  as 
well  as  to  proclaim  anew  our  most  affectionate  regard. 


474 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


We  should  like,  since  the  opportunity  presents  itself,  to  dwell  on 
other  causes  of  the  affliction  whose  weight  becomes  daily  more  intol- 
erable. They  are  so  numerous,  however,  that  the  brief  space  of  a 
letter  could  not  contain  them.  But  there  is  one  upon  which  we 
must  now  animadvert,  the  system  of  concessions  proposed  to  us,  and 
the  ‘ Law  of  Guarantees,’  as  they  call  it.  One  knows  not  what 
most  predominates  in  this  device,  absurdity  or  cunning  or  mock- 
ery, or  why  it  is  that  the  persons  who  control  the  Piedmontese  gov- 
ernment bestow  on  the  scheme  so  much  labor  and  useless  appli- 
cation. 

Compelled  as  they  have  been,  by  the  remonstrances  of  the  Cath- 
olic world,  and  by  a political  necessity,  to  keep  up  for  us  a show 
of  sovereignty,  lest  we  might  appear  to  be  subject  to  any  person  in 
the  supreme  government  of  the  Church,  they  have  held  this  up  to 
public  opinion  as  ^ a concession.’  Now  a concession  argues,  by  its 
very  nature,  in  the  person  who  grants  it,  power  over  the  person  to 
whom  it  is  granted'  and  subjects  the  latter,  in  so  far  as  the  subject- 
matter  of  the  concession  is  concerned,  to  the  jurisdiction  and  will  of 
the  former.  Hence  it  is  that  the  framers  of  this  system  of  guarantees 
and  concessions  waste  their  labor  in  devising  props  for  our  sovereign- 
ty, since  the  very  means  they  employ  to  prop  it  up  undermine  it  in 
its  essentials.  Besides,  it  is  characteristic  of  this  sort  of  concessions 
that  each  of  them  involves  a peculiar  servitude,  and  this  servitude, 
again,  is  aggravated  by  subsequent  amendments. 

Moreover,  in  spite  of  the  careful  manner  in  which  the  authors 
cover  their  purpose,  the  hostile  and  fraudulent  spirit  which  animates 
them  reveals  itself  in  a long  series  of  acts,  forcing  every  man  of  com- 
mon sense  to  see  that  their  object  is  to  deceive. 

But  if  the  Church  is  ever  to  bear  the  image  of  him  who  is  her 
founder,  must  we,  who  are  Christ’s  vicar  on  earth,  not  be  grateful 
that  he  permits  men  to  surround  us  with  the  mock-pomp  of  royalty  ? 
It  was,  in  truth,  thereby  that  he  overcame  the  world ; and  thus 
will  he  again  triumph  over  it  through  the  Church,  his  spouse.” 

We  shall  see  presently  in  the  terrible  arraignment  of  the  Piedmon- 
tese government,  made  in  the  Allocution  of  March  the  12th,  1877, 
how  the  above  judgment  on  the  Law  of  Guarantees,”  and  on  the 
purpose  of  its  authors,  was  verified  to  the  letter.  So  leave  we  the 
august  vicar  of  Christ  surrounded  in  the  Vatican  by  the  worshipful 
reverence  of  the  Catholic  world,  while  his  captors  mock  him  with  a 
show  of  sovereignty  : we  must  glance  rapidly  at  the  chief  trials  en- 


Hidden  Causes  of  the  German  Persecution.  47  S 


dured  by  Pius  IX.  during  these  years,  before  we  refresh  our  souls  with 
the  spectacle  of  his  glorious  Episcopal  Jubilee. 

The  Dollinger-Hohenlohe  conspiracy  in  1869-70  soon  produced 
its  results.  The  unexpected  issue  of  the  great  war  between  France 
and  Prussia  raised  Bismark  to  the  foremost  rank  of  fame,  influ- 
ence, and  power.  His  unscrupulous  but  unquestionable  genius  had 
made  the  long  dream  of  German  unity  an  accomplished  fact.  A 
German  empire,  with  the  Protestant  house  of  Hohenzollern  as  the 
reigning  dynasty,  supplanted  in  the  European  system  the  ancient 
empire  of  the  Hapsburgs,  now  reduced  to  narrow  limits  and  obliged 
to  depend  for  its  very  existence  on  the  support  of  the  Magyars  of  Hun- 
gary. Of  the  new  German  empire,  Bavaria,  the  flrst  to  offer  the 
imperial  crown  to  the  victorious  Hohenzollern,  became  a satellite — 
the  flrst  indeed  in  magnitude  which  revolved  round  Prussia,  but 
only  a satellite,  with  no  independent  motion  of  her  own.  And  to 
this  result  Prince  Ohlodwig  Hohenlohe  contributed,  aided  and  abet- 
ted by  Dr.  Dollinger  and  his  following. 

Prince  Hohenlohe  was  elected,  on  March  23,  1871,  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  flrst  parliament  of  the  German  empire  ; and  from  that 
hour  his  influence,  and  that  of  his  trusted  adviser  Dollinger,  is  to  be 
traced  in  the  suspicion  cast  on  the  Jesuits,  the  Ultramontanes  (a 
term  now  introduced  into  modern  politics  as  synonymous  with  Cath- 
olics), the  court  of  Eome,  and  every  one  who  avowed  his  belief  in 
pontiflcal  infallibility.  We  are,  as  yet,  too  near  these  events  to  be 
able  to  disclose  with  prudence  or  with  certainty  the  real  connection 
between  great  events  and  their  causes.  But  it  is  not  a secret  that 
the  Dollinger  faction,  which  hastened  to  show  its  hostility  to  the 
Church,  impelled  both  Prince  Hohenlohe  and  Prince  Bismark  into 
the  persecuting  measures  which  were  but  a too  faithful  imitation  of 
Piedmontism. 

By  what  artiflce  the  good  faith  of  the  Emperor  William  was  im- 
posed upon  by  his  chancellor,  and  his  conservative  principles  laid 
aside  for  a policy  most  revolutionary  in  its  aim  and  tendencies,  it 
were  bootless  to  inquire.  He  was  made  to  believe,  the  rationalistic 
public  and  a part  of  the  Protestant  public  of  Germany  were  made 
to  believe,  that  the  Jesuits,  the  Pope,  and  the  Catholic  Church  gen- 
erally, were  not  only  adverse  to  the  establishment  of  the  new  German 
empire,  but  in  permanent  conspiracy  against  it.  The  same  press 
which  so  industriously  and  so  skillfully  propagated  and  kept  up  the 
falsehood  about  the  Pope’s  ambitious  purpose  in  convening  the 


476 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Council  of  the  Vatican,  now  manifested  equal  industry  and  per- 
sistency in  affirming  that  the  new  dogma  and  the  power  with  which 
it  inyested  the  Pope  were  not  only  irreconcilable  with  German 
autonomy  and  supremacy,  but  fatal  to  the  progress  and  independence 
of  German  science. 

This  was  to  array  against  the  TJltramontanes  or  the  Catholics  the 
most  energetic,  influential,  and  powerful  elements  in  confederated, 
or,  rather,  consolidated  Germany,  and  in  the  imperial  parliament. 
The  whole  Protestant  world  outside  of  Germany  had  already  gone 
mad  with  joy  at  seeing  the  crown  of  Charlemagne  on  the  head  of  a 
Protestant ; the  captivity  of  the  Pope,  the  annihilation  of  his  sov- 
ereignty, and  the  well-known  anti-Catholic  aims  of  the  Italian  parlia- 
ment, all  seemed  to  point  toward  the  rapid  decline  and  near  destruc- 
tion of  the  Catholic  Church  as  a polity  and  a power.  There  were 

General  Conventions”  held  by  the  “Old  Catholic”  faction  in 
Germany,  to  which  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches  not  in  com- 
munion with  Kome  were  invited,  in  order  to  draw  up  a basis  of 
agreement.  But  they,  like  many  such  before  them,  could  only 
agree  in  denouncing  the  Pope  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  One 
result  of  these  meetings,  and  all  this  anti-Catholic  sympathy  for  the 
new  empire,  was  to  conflrm  Bismark  in  his  belief  that  all  Protest- 
antism would  uphold  and  applaud  him  in  his  determination  to 
destroy  the  Catholic  Church  in  Germany,  root  and  branch. 

Such,  in  fact,  was  the  aim  of  the  scheme  of  legislation,  complete 
and  effective  in  every  detail,  introduced  into  parliament  in  the  begin- 
ning of  1873  by  Dr.  Falck,  minister  of  instruction  and  public  wor- 
ship. But  the  destruction  had  already  begun,  and  was,  in  so  far  as 
the  German  authorities  could  make  it,  well  advanced  before  the  close 
of  1872.  In  June  of  that  year  the  Jesuits  “and  other  affiliated 
orders  ” were  suppressed  by  law  ; and  the  law  was  executed  with 
nearly  as  much  mercilessness  as  the  most  savage  Italian  could  desire. 
Which  were  these  “affiliated”  orders,  who  could  determine?  For 
it  is  notorious  that  no  such  affiliation  exists  between  the  Society  of 
Jesus  and  any  aggregation  in  the  Church.  But  the  “ Old  Catholic  ” 
high  councilors  were  always  at  hand  to  tell  Dr.  Falck  on  whom  his 
blows  should  fall ; and  so  the  Redemptorists,  the  Lazarists,  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  other  most  edifying  and  efficient 
laborers  in  God’s  vineyard,  were  driven  forth.  It  was  in  vain  that 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  of  Germany  met  in  Fulda  during  the 
month  of  November  to  draw  up  an  expostulation.  Admirable  and 


The  Falck  Laws, 


All 


temperate  as  that  document  is,  it  was  predestined  to  liave  no  effect 
on  Bismark,  or  Dr.  Falck,  or  the  parliament ; Bismark  and  Hohen- 
lohe  had  made  up  their  minds  to  accept  no  compromise  or  conces- 
sion short  of  the  absolute  and  unconditional  subjection  of  the 
Catholic  Church  within  Germany  to  German  law  and  authority,  and 
to  none  other. 

Those  who  know  anything  of  contemporary  politics  and  history 
are  aware  that  the  Prince  Chancellor,  from  the  beginning  of  1871, 
had  as  clearly  determined  in  his  own  mind  every  single  measure  by 
which  the  perfect  enslavement  of  the  Catholic  Church  should  be 
effected,  by  which  every  institution  and  feature  peculiarly  Catholic 
should  he  blotted  out,  and  eveiy  source  of  Catholic  education  and 
Catholic  life  utterly  extinguished,  as  the  Piedmontese  ministry 
and  parliament  had  determined,  in  1850,  measures  which  gradu- 
ally but  surely  swept  away  from  Italy  Catholic  legislation  and  insti- 
tutions. 

This  was  made  no  secret  of  in  what  was  known  as  the  Reptile 
Press  ” of  Germany — and  the  inspiration  of  the  great  chancellor  was 
to  that  press  the  breath  of  life.  Nor  was  there  much  dissimilarity 
in  other  respects  between  Bismark  and  his  prototype  Cavour.  It 
was  always  sought  to  make  it  appear  to  European  public  opinion 
that  Germany  was  forced  into  these  aggressive  measures  by  the  hos- 
tile or  unyielding  spirit  of  the  Vatican.  As  if  the  venerable  pon- 
tiff, shorn  of  every  remnant  of  political  power,  unsupported  by  any 
save  hapless  France,  and  most  interested  in  making  friends  and  con- 
ciliating enemies,  had  ever  been  disposed  to  be  aggressive,  or  inso- 
lent, or  overbearing  toward  Germany  ! 

At  any  rate,  it  served  the  present  purpose  to  have  it  generally 
believed  that  he  was  ; and  it  was  clever  diplomacy  to  put  him, 
apparently  at  least,  in  the  wrong.  So  Cardinal  Gustav  Adolf  de 
Hohenlohe,  brother  to  the  vice-president  of  the  Reichstag,  was 
chosen  to  represent  the  German  empire  and  the  new  ecclesiastical 
policy  near  the  Holy  See.  He  never  should  have  accepted  such  a 
mission ; and  the  brave  old  Pope  was  not  the  man  to  be  deceived 
by  such  a manoeuvre.  The  cardinal  was  not  received  by  the  Holy 
Father.  And  in  the  consistory  of  December,  1872,  the  suppression 
of  the  religious  orders  in  Germany,  the  harshness  and  downright 
cruelty  to  which  their  members  had  been  subjected,  and  the  viola- 
tion of  laws  enacted  in  Prussia  and  elsewhere  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  Holy  See,  could  not  but  call  forth  animadversion  from  the 


47S 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


chief  pastor.  All  diplomatic  intercourse  with  Germany  was  imme- 
diately broken  off ; the  desired  effect  had  been  produced — Europe,  all 
non-Catholic  Christendom,  would  believe  that  the  Holy  Father  was 
entirely  in  the  wrong,  and  would  thenceforth  justify  the  most  ex- 
treme legislative  measures,  and  the  most  rigorous  administration  of 
the  laws  passed  against  the  refractory  U1  tramontanes.  The  Old 
Catholics  ” at  once  demanded  to  be  recognized  as  the  legal  Catholic 
body,  while  the  bishops  who  had  adhered  to  the  Vatican  Council 
and  their  flocks  should,  they  said,  be  considered  as  apostates  from 
the  Church.  In  October,  1873,  Prussia  recognized  the  legal  title  of 
Dr.  Eeinkens,  consecrated  as  bishop  by  the  Jansenists  of  Holland, 
and  authorized  him  to  receive  a state  salary. 

The  rest  is  known.  Every  Catholic  bishop  and  priest  who  refused 
to  submit  to  the  new  schismatical  laws— formally  and  avowedly  schis- 
matical — was  deposed  from  office,  fined,  imprisoned,  or  banished. 
More  than  that,  a close  alliance  was  effected  between  the  kingdom  of 
Italy  and  the  German  empire,  one  of  the  unavowed  purposes  of 
which  was  a common  policy  of  repression  toward  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  future  unity  of  action  in  preventing  the  restoration  of 
the  temporal  sovereignty  and  in  controlling  the  papal  elections.  The 
visit  of  the  king  of  Italy  to  Berlin,  and  the  return  visit  of  the  Emperor 
William  to  Milan,  were  hailed  by  the  anti-Cathclic  press  of  both 
countries  as  indicative  of  a purpose  hostile  to  the  common  enemy. 

Of  the  iniquity  of  all  the  measures  of  spoliation,  so  successfully 
carried  out  in  Prussia  and  other  parts  of  Germany,  there  is  no  need 
of  speaking ; of  the  final  success  of  this  attempt  at  creating  a schis- 
matical national  Church,  let  us  hear  what  Protestants  think. 

The  coercion  by  force  of  a clergy  conscientiously  and  irrevocably 
pledged  to  resistance  is  not  justifiable,  and  is  still  less  likely  to  prove 
possible.  It  may  be  necessary  for  the  Prussian  government  to  make 
the  experiment  of  reforming  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  within 
their  country  ; and  if  they  could  succeed,  it  would  be  an  admirable 
achievement.  But,  for  our  part,  we  think  it  more  likely  that  they 
will  fail.”  * 

Such,  then,  is  one  of  the  most  bitter  trials  of  Pius  IX.,  a whole- 
sale and  lengthened  persecution  of  sixteen  millions  of  Catholics,  the 
motives  for  which  were  hypocritically  drawn  from  his  own  personal 
character  and  official  acts.  In  that  trial,  however,  all  was  not  un- 


* The  London  Times,  Wednesday,  December  the  11th,  1873. 


Catholic  Congresses  in  Germany, 


479 


mixed  bitterness.  Unfortunately  for  the  persecutors,  but  most  for- 
tunately for  religion,  the  Church  of  Germany  was  in  that  vigorous 
condition  of  enlightened  faith,  and  active,  intelligent  piety,  which 
admitted  no  hope  of  the  sort  of  reform  that  might  please  Exeter 
Hall  or  the  Evangelical  Alliance/’ 

Since  1848  the  Catholics  of  Germany  had  deemed  it  their  interest, 
and  later  thought  it  their  duty,  to  assemble  yearly  in  congress  in 
order  to  communicate  to  each  other  accurate  statistics  about  the 
needs,  the  resources,  and  the  progress  of  their  respective  countries, 
and  to  concert  with  each  other  measures  for  developing  education, 
intelligence,  and  a robust,  manly  faith  among  all  classes  of  Catholics. 
Just  as  the  first  warning  blast  of  the  terrible  storm  had  passed  over 
Germany,  the  twenty-first  Catholic  Congress  met  in  Mayence,  in  the 
second  week  in  September,  and  if  ever  a secular  assembly  could  con- 
sole and  reassure  the  Holy  Father  as  to  the  certain  triumph  of  the 
Church  in  Germany,  it  must  have  been  the  enthusiastic,  enlightened, 
and  practical  multitude  whose  presence  in  the  city  of  Gutenberg 
and  their  firm  and  outspoken  profession  of  faith  thrilled  every  Cath- 
olic heart  in  the  Khineland. 

It  was  not  merely  that  in  their  resolutions  they  adhered  unreserv- 
edly to  the  Vatican  Council  and  its  decrees,  or  that  they  stigmatized 
the  occupation  of  Eome  as  a robbery,  which  no  law  can  validate  and 
no  length  of  time  legitimate  ; they  protested  against  the  acts  of  every 
temporal  government  which  pretends  to  dictate  to  the  Church  what 
doctrine  she  must  teach,  which  opposes  obstacles  to  the  teaching  of 
the  Church,  or  encourages  rebellion  against  her  doctrine  or  her  dis- 
cipline ; they  protested  also  against  the  recent  encroachments  on  their 
liberties  and  their  rights.  Switzerland  was  fearfully  agitated  by  the 
storm  which  threatened  Germany ; indeed,  it  might  appear  that  it 
originated  among  the  deep  Alpine  valleys,  and,  after  devastating 
them,  swept  down  along  the  Rhine,  threatening  the  Church  in  Ger- 
many with  the  same  violent  changes  effected  in  Switzerland  by  the 
Protestant  and  rationalistic  majority.  The  congress  drew  up  a noble 
address  to  their  suffering  Swiss  brethren. 

Most  admirable  were  their  resolutions  on  education.  They  ap- 
proved of  the  plan  of  Ludwig  Aner,  uniting  in  one  grand  association 
school-teachers,  clergy,  and  parents.  Then  there  was  a no  less  admir- 
able effort  made  toward  uniting  in  a general  crusade  all  connected 
with  the  press — publishers,  editors,  and  writers — so  as  to  enable  jour- 
nals, sadly  needed  but  insufficiently  supported,  to  be  independent. 


480  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

and  to  encourage  all  to  assume  a tone  and  an  elevation  worthy  of  the 
sacred  cause  of  truth. 

Against  the  blighting  influence  of  so-called  ''German  science” 
they  ask  that  all  shall  combine  to  promote  the  cultivation  of  a true 
Catholic  science,  and  that  without  a moment’s  delay.  With  regard 
to  the  Holy  Father  in  particular,  not  satisfied  with  their  energetic 
expression  of  opinion  about  the  occupation  of  Rome,  they  denounce 
the  "Guarantees”  as  inadmissible  by  Catholics,  because  behind  these 
guarantees  lies  the  assumption  that  to  the  State  belongs  the  right  to 
say  under  what  conditions  the  Church  and  her  ministers  may  exer- 
cise their  office  of  teachers,  priests,  and  shepherds  of  the  flock.  This 
law  of  the  Italian  parliament  in  nowise  guarantees  to  the  Pope  per- 
fect freedom  in  his  supreme  office,  and  then  who  is  to  say  that  these 
guarantees  shall  be  respected  ? Catholics  have  no  choice  but  to  de- 
nounce the  occupation  of  Rome  as  a wrong,  a violation  of  interna- 
tional law ; they  are  bound  to  oppose  it  by  all  legitimate  means, 
nor  can  this  unceasing  opposition  be  looked  upon  as  insubordination. 

Thus  spoke  Catholic  Germany  in  1871.  Every  year  till  1874  the 
same  clear,  manly.  Catholic  voice  sent  its  tones  through  Christen- 
dom. At  length  Prince  Bismark  gave  the  most  peremptory  orders 
for  its  suppression.  The  pretext  for  this  act  of  tyranny  was  that 
such  associations  were  political  and  interfered  in  public  affairs.  As 
the  school  association  mentioned  above  embraced  the  local  organiza- 
tions existing  all  over  the  country,  a most  active  spy  system  was  set 
on  foot  by  the  government  to  watch  every  movement  made  and  to 
report  every  word  uttered  by  them  to  the  authorities.  But,  though 
the  civil  power  could  obstruct  their  open  proceedings,  they  went 
silently  forward  to  their  purpose,  giving  their  advice,  distributing 
the  funds  at  their  disposal,  cheering  the  afflicted  Catholic  popula- 
tions with  the  most  timely  words  of  sympathy,  and  sending,  in  spite 
of  all  prohibitions,  their  powerful  accents  of  encouragement  to  simi- 
lar associations  on  the  continent ; like  those  sunken  rivers  of  Dalma- 
tia, which  disappear  of  a sudden  from  the  sunlight,  and  continue 
beneath  the  ground  their  course,  unrestrained,  toward  the  Adriatic. 

In  Italy  the  events  of  1870  aroused  the  Catholic  .spirit  among  all 
that  was  best  in  the  nation.  The  Venetians  celebrated  the  third 
centenary  of  the  victory  of  Lepanto  on  October  the  7th,  1870  ; and 
the  noble  representatives  of  Bologna  present  at  the  celebration  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  a Catholic  Congress  for  all  Italy  to  be  held  as  soon 
as  possible.  The  Bolognese  sought  and  obtained  for  their  design  the 


Italian  Catholic  Congress  in  Venice, 


481 


blessing  of  tlie  Holy  Father,  organized  a committee  with  Cardinal 
Trevisanato,  patriarch  of  Venice,  as  its  president,  and  put  itself  in 
communication  with  the  Catholic  societies  of  the  entire  Peninsula. 

Much  prudence  was  needful ; for  there  were  formidable  obstacles 
in  the  way.  Everything,  however,  was  matured  with  the  intelli- 
gence, the  caution,  and  the  resolution  characteristic  of  Italians,  and 
on  June  the  13th,  1874,  the  first  Catholic  Congress  of  Italy  assembled 
at  Venice,  in  the  beautiful  church  of  Santa  Maria  del  Orto. 

The  Cardinal  Patriarch  presided  and  opened  the  first  session  with 
the  solemn  and  Laudetur  Jesiis  Cliristiisl  (‘‘Praised 

be  Christ  Jesus !”),  to  which  the  five  hundred  gentlemen  deputies 
replied  reverently,  but  with  a voice  that  sounded  over  the  neighbor- 
hood, Laudetur  in  ceternum  ! (“  Be  he  praised  for  evermore  ! ’’)  The 
beautiful  church  is  on  the  border  of  the  wide  lagoon  looking  toward 
Burano,  the  cradle  of  Venice  itself,  and  it  contains,  beside  the  tomb 
of  Tintoretto,  his  magnificent  Last  Judgment.  There  was  not  an 
inch  of  ground  nor  a spot  on  the  broad  expanse  of  sea,  nor  one  beau- 
tiful work  of  man  in  the  wilderness  of  beautiful  things  all  around, 
that  was  not  eloquent  of  the  creations  of  Catholic  genius.  And  the 
generous  sons  of  Italy,  who  met  there  on  that  day,  had  come  with 
the  purpose,  blessed  of  heaven,  of  not  allowing  their  loved  Italy  to 
fall  back  into  paganism  and  barbarism. 

“We  have  the  modest  intention  of  doing  a little  good,”  said  the 
Cardinal  President,  in  the  course  of  his  inaugural  address;  “the 
conspirators  who  rule  the  world  in  our  day  control  the  press  and 
the  schools,  in  order  to  corrupt  and  to  ruin  society,  after  having 
shaken  it  to  its  foundations.  It  must  be  our  labor  to  make  every 
provision  we  may  for  the  diffusion  of  good  books,  and  for  the  sup- 
pression of  such  as  are  bad  ; it  must  be  our  duty  to  strain  every 
nerve  in  order  to  rear  Catholic  schools,  so  as  to  erect  an  impassable 
barrier  against  the  slimy  inundation  of  moral  filth  and  impiety 
which  threatens  to  submerge  the  world.” 

As  the  speaker  pointed  to  the  neighboring  waves,  how  could  not 
they  all  recall  to  mind  the  band  of  fugitives  who,  thirteen  hun- 
dred years  before  that,  had  built  patiently  amid  the  slim.y  reaches  of 
these  same  lagoons — then  frequented  only  by  the  water-fowl — a few 
precarious  structures,  which  grew  up,  under  God’s  blessing,  to  be 
the  fairest  and  proudest  city  that  ever  the  sun  shone  upon  ? 

“ They  proclaim  everywhere,”  the  cardinal  continued,  “that  the 
Catholic  religion  is  dead,  is  but  a corpse.  But  this  congi'ess,  by  its 
31 


482 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


Hying  deeds,  shall  make  all  who  come  in  contact  with  it  confess  that 
Catholicism  still  possesses  the  vigor  of  youth,  and  is  still  clothed 
with  the  power  of  God.  The  world  around  cries  out  untiringly  that 
men  of  progress  have  repudiated  religion.  But  we,  in  this  congress, 
shall  make  it  manifest  to  all  that  we  are  men  of  progress,  who  prize 
above  all  that  men  hold  to  be  dearest  and  best  that  most  holy  re- 
ligion in  which  we  had  the  inestimable  privilege  to  be  born,  and  in 
which  we  purpose  to  die,  no  matter  what  fortune  may  befall  us.” 

The  congress  was  then  organized,  the  Roman  Duke  Salviati,  of 
the  Borghese  family,  being  chosen  president.  Then  was  read  the 
papal  brief  approving  the  establishment  of  the  congress,  and  the  fol- 
lowing telegram  was  sent  to  the  Holy  Father : ‘^The  Catholics  of 
Italy,  for  the  first  time  assembled  in  congress,  begin  their  work  by 
humbly  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  your  Holiness,  by  renewing  their  full 
and  heartfelt  adhesion  to  all  the  truths  proclaimed  in  your  infallible 
teaching,  and  by  begging  you  to  encourage  and  strengthen  them 
with  your  apostolic  benediction.” 

Baron  D’Ondes-Reggio,  one  of  the  vice-presidents,  distinguished 
for  his  indomitable  energy  in  maintaining  Catholic  interests  in  the 
Italian  parliament,  electrified  the  assemblage  by  the  following  brief 
address : 

^^It  seems  most  befitting  that  this  Catholic  Congi’ess,  the  first  ever 
convened  in  Italy,  should  begin  by  setting  forth  this  declaration  : 

The  congress  is  Catholic  and  nothing  but  Catholic  ; for  Catho- 
licism is  a complete  doctrine,  the  great  doctrine  of  humanity.  Catho- 
licism, therefore,  is  not  liberal,  is  not  tyrannical — it  has  no  quali- 
fication ; whatever  qualification  may  be  added  to  it  is  of  itself  a grave 
error.  To  suppose  that  Catholicism  is  deficient  in  anything  which 
should  be  added  to  it,  or  that  it  possesses  anything  which  should  be 
eliminated,  is  a most  serious  mistake,  leading  to  schism  and  heresy. 

‘^Catholicism  is  the  doctrine  which  the  sovereign  pontiff,  succes- 
sor of  St.  Peter,  bishop  of  Rome,  vicar  of  Christ,  infallible  doctor  of 
faith  and  morals,  teaches  us  either  ex  cathedra  or  conjointly  with  the 
bishops,  the  successors  of  the  apostles.  Every  doctrine  differing  from 
this  is  schism  or  heresy.  To  the  supreme  authority  of  the  sovereign 
pontiff  the  congress  submits  is  deliberations.  Long  live  Pius  IX.  ! ” 

The  sections  of  the  congress  were  on  Catholic  associations,  works 
of  charity,  education,  the  press,  and  the  fine  arts.  Every  session 
made  more  and  more  evident  the  thorough  earnestness  of  these  noble 
men.  “Italians,”  said  Dr.  Sacchetti,  “let  us  pray  that  the  revoiu- 


Noble  Words  and  Noble  Deeds.  483 

tion  may  die  to-morrow  ; but  let  us  work  as  though  it  were  to  live 
forever ! ” 

The  two  illustrious  vice-presidents,  D’Ondes-Eeggio  and  Alberi, 
were  ■ especially  eloquent  on  the  necessity  of  securing  freedom  of 
education  and  of  resisting  compulsory  State  education,  which  they 
denounced  as  contrary  to  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  parent. 

The  congress  concluded  its  labors  on  June  the  17th,  after  having 
resolved  that  the  next  congress  should  meet  at  Florence  in  1875, 
hope,”  were  the  last  words  of  the  Cardinal  Patriarch  to  this 
memorable  meeting,  ^‘that  you  will  bring  with  you  to  your  homes 
the  firm  conviction,  founded  on  the  eloquence  of  facts,  that  Yenice 
is  still  animated  with  a spirit  of  active  loyalty  to  the  Church.  And 
here  I cannot  bccter  conclude  our  labors  than  by  asking  you  to 
signify  your  enthusiastic  approval  of  him  whom  we  all  love  with 
such  deep  aFection — the  great,  the  immortal,  the  infallible  Pius  IX.” 

And  then  the  Te  Deum  pealed  forth  over  the  blue  waters  of  the 
lagoon,  sung  in  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  goodness  by 
all  these  manly  voices.  And  so,  from  the  shore  whence  Venice’s 
proud  fieet  went  forth  for  the  last  time  against  the  Moslem  in  the 
autumn  of  1570,  now  began  in  good  earnest  the  crusade  against  error 
and  evil,  which  Pius  IX.  meditated  at  Gaeta,  before  the  victorious 
banner  which  led  to  battle  the  united  hosts  of  Italy  and  Spain  ! The 
bitterness  of  exile,  the  successive  trials  of  the  twenty  following  years, 
the  spoliations  just  consumm^ated,  and  all  the  humiliations  and  suf- 
ferings of  the  present  bondage,  should  not  be  endured  in  vain,  if 
this  blessed  spirit,  gone  forth  from  Yenice,  should  enkindle  in  all  true 
Italian  hearts  the  determination  to  keep  their  country  true  to  God 
and  worthy  of  her  golden  age  of  Catholicity. 

For,  these  associations,  these  congresses,  this  banding  together 
everywhere  of  the  elite  of  the  Catholic  world  in  opposition  to  modern 
error  and  for  the  spread  of  Catholic  truth,  and  liberty  and  law — all 
that  was  the  life-long  dream  of  Pius  IX.,  the  burden  of  all  his  sol- 
emn utterances  to  the  universal  Church. 

When  Duke  Salviati  at  the  head  of  a deputation  from  the  congress 
presented  themselves  at  the  Vatican  with  a transcript  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, the  Holy  Father  could  not  contain  his  joy.  I feel  con- 
soled,” he  said,  ‘^by  what  has  been  done  under  the  protection  of  the 
evangelist  (St.  Mark)  in  the  city  of  Yenice.  I pray  God  to  bless 
your  efforts,  and  at  the  same  time  thank  all  of  you  who  have  come 
here  not  merely  to  give  an  account  of  your  proceedings,  but  to  com- 


484  Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

fort  the  afflicted  heart  of  your  father  by  your  presence,  your  words, 
your  sympathy. 

‘'It  is  most  true  that  the  cause  of  my  suffering  is  not  so  much 
the  painful  position  which  men  have  created  for  me,  as  the  manifold 
evils  with  whieh  the  Church  is  afflicted.  . . . The  children  of 

the  faith  cannot  wonder  at  what  is  happening  in  our  days.  It  has 
been  foretold.  ‘ The  world  shall  rejoice,  and  you  shall  be  made 
sorrowful ; but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy.’  . . . 

“When,  on  June  the  17th,  1846,  the  Conclave  was  thrown  open  to 
admit  those  who  came  to  see  the  new  Pope,  all  was  joy  and  gladness. 
Some  members  of  the  diplomatic  body  had  eagerly  penetrated  into 
the  chapel  of  the  Quirinal,  and  the  most  eager  among  them  was  the 
minister  of  the  king  of  Sardinia.  The  Pope  stood  near  the  altar  in 
his  pontifical  robes  before  presenting  himself  to  the  people  at  the 
grand  balcony.  The  Sardinian  minister  approached,  and  with  rever- 
ent care  seized  the  train  of  the  pontifical  robe,  wishing  thereby  to 
be  the  first  to  pay  this  mark  of  homage  to  the  new  Pope. 

“To  this  act  of  cordial  sympathy  between  the  Holy  See  and  Pied- 
mont soon  succeeded  a kindly  interchange  of  letters,  which  confirmed 
offieially  this  friendly  feeling. 

“So  far,  joy  and  friendship  ; later  on  all  was  changed  into  bitter- 
ness. The  same  Piedmont  stripped  me  almost  entirely  of  the  robe 
of  my  temporal  dominions,  and  on  September  the  20th,  1870,  went 
further,  entering  Rome  itself,  not  to  bear,  but  to  tear  in  pieces  the 
train  which  alone  remained  of  the  vesture  which  once  covered  me. 
And  so  you  see  how  joy  was  changed  into  sorrow.” 

That  same  month  of  June,  1874,  afforded  the  Pope  one  other  great 
consolation  in  the  arrival  of  a large  number  of  American  pilgrims  from 
the  United  States  and  Canada.  This  demonstration  was  the  first  of 
the  kind  originating  in  the  great  Western  republic,  and  it  was  all  the 
more  grateful  to  the  Holy  Father  that  the  first  thought  of  it  came 
from  one  of  these  associations  of  Catholic  young  men,  for  which  Pius 
IX.,  from  his  early  youth,  showed  so  warm  an  affection  and  such 
abiding  interest.  Those  created  in  Rome  in  the  sixteenth  century  by 
the  joint  influence  of  St.  Ignatius  Loyola  and  St.  Philip  Xeri  were 
fostered  by  the  great  religious  families  these  two  devoted  friends  had 
left  behind  them.  The  Oratorians  established  sodalities  of  young 
men  in  every  city  of  Italy  where  they  abode.  And  attached  to  every 
Jesuit  college  in  both  hemispheres  wast  a sodality  of  young  men  pro- 
fessing a special  devotion  to  our  Lady,  and  endeavoring  by  purity  of 


Catholic  Unions,  and  their  Fruit.  485 

life  and  active  charity  toward  the  poor  to  he  the  true  disciples  of  her 
son.  These  societies  were  one  of  the  most  powerful  means  of  moral 
reformation  among  the  higher  classes  of  society  ever  wielded  by  any 
portion  of  the  clergy.  The  young  Abbate  Masta’i,  during  his  theo- 
logical studies  in  Eome,  had  belonged  to  the  sodality  of  the  Roman 
College,  and  had  practiced  with  its  members  the  first  heroic  acts  of 
devotion  to  the  poor  and  ignorant  among  the  population. 

When  the  Syllabus  had  been  adopted  throughout  the  Church  as 
the  rule  both  of  teaching  and  of  practice,  Pius  IX.  stimulated  by 
word  and  by  deed  the  formation  of  unions  embracing  not  only  young 
men  but  the  most  distinguished  men  for  learning,  piety,  and  position 
as  well,  in  order  that  the  older  members  might  serve  as  a model,  a 
support,  and  a check  to  the  younger.  These  sodalities  and  unions 
were  both  in  Italy  and  in  Germany. — to  say  nothing  of  France  and 
Belgium — the  very  soul  of  the  national  congresses.  So,  hating 
everything  which  could  promote  Catholic  interests,  Bismark  had  in 
the  immense  good  done  by  the  Jesuits,  the  Eedemptorists,  and  the 
Lazarists  through  the  elite  of  German  manhood,  a more  than  suf- 
ficient motive  for  his  unsparing  hostility. 

In  the  free  air  of  the  English-speaking  world  these  unions  flour- 
ished and  multiplied.  There,  too,  it  was  needful  to  protect  Catholic 
interests,  and  above  all  to  promote  the  great  cause  of  Catholic  edu- 
cation, and  to  support  a press  worthy  of  the  Church  it  had  to  repre- 
sent and  defend. 

The  city  of  New  York  had  its  Catholic  union,  and  closely  allied 
to  this,  though  more  limited  in  its  objects,  was  the  Xavier  union,  de- 
pendent on  the  college  and  church  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  It  was 
with  the  members  of  both  of  these  associations  that  the  idea  of 
a public  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  as  a solemn  testimony  of  reverence 
and  fidelity  to  the  father  of  Christendom,  originated.  Persons  from 
other  States,  and  from  Canada,  asked  for  a place  on  the  list  of  pil- 
gi’ims  ; but  the  New  York  members  formed  the  nucleus. 

They  sailed  from  that  city  in  May,  after  having  been  solemnly 
blessed  by  the  archbishop,  visited  Lourdes  on  their  way  through 
France,  all  bearing  on  their  breast  the  emblem  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
and  were  presented  to  the  Holy  Father  on  the  8th  of  June.  Judge 
Thuard,  a native  of  Hew  Orleans,  read,  in  French,  an  address  in  the 
name  of  the  entire  company.  ^^Most  Holy  Father,”  he  said,  “we 
come  from  a free  country,  where  liberty  is  well  understood ; for  we 
are  not  persecuted,  but,  on  the  contrary,  enjoy  the  fullest  liberty  of 


486 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


conscience.  We  have  left  our  country,  our  homes,  and  our  avoca- 
tions, to  lay  at  your  feet  our  hearts,  our  possessions,  and  our  lives,  if 
you  should  need  them.  Our  words  can  but  poorly  express  all  the 
submission,  the  respect,  and  the  love  which  make  our  hearts  pulsate 
with  one  emotion.  The  greater  is  your  affliction  the  more  pow- 
erfully are  we  moved  to  love  you.  This  special  affection  for  you  of 
your  American  children  cannot  surprise  you.  You  are  the  first  and 
only  Pope  whose  feet  have  trodden  American  soil.  We  have  come 
hither  to  offer  you,  not  rich  presents,  hut  our  sentiments  of  love  and 
obedience.  For  you  and  our  faith  we  are  ready  to  undergo  any  sac- 
rifice. May  God  preserve  you  still  longer  over  his  Church.  You 
have  seen  the  days  of  Peter.  God  grant  you  to  behold  the  triumph 
of  the  Church.”  ^ 

In  his  reply,  the  Pope  said  that  in  an  epoch  when  darkness  and  danger 
gathered  over  the  Church  the  Almighty  could  with  his  breath  dis- 
pel the  clouds,  and  cause  a light  to  shine  forth  from  out  the  dark- 
ness to  guide  the  pilgrims  journeying  from  afar,  by  different  routes,  to 
the  true  and  safe  haven.  The  Church  is  persecuted  everywhere  in 
her  clergy  and  in  her  people,  but  their  firmness  compels  even  the 
persecutors  to  say  that  they  did  not  expect  to  find  such  great  faith 
in  IsraeL 

Are  you  not  a splendid  proof  of  this  ? May  I not  say  with  the 
prophet  Isaias  : ^ Lift  up  thy  eyes  round  about,  and  see  all  these  are 
gathered  together,  they  are  come  to  thee.’  May  God  be  gracious 
to  you  and  to  your  country,  so  young  and  so  vigorous,  where  the 
fruits  of  nature  and  the  products  of  industry  flourish  so  wonder- 
fully side  by  side,  and  where  the  Catholic  religion  enjoys  such  per- 
fect liberty  ! . . . Pray  with  me  that  there  also  workmen  may 

be  multiplied  for  the  great  harvest  of  souls. 

May  God  be  your  guide  homeward,  and  fill  you  with  that  over- 
flowing spirit  of  love  which  may  gladden  your  families  and  move  to 
all  goodness  your  relatives,  friends,  and  fellow- citizens  ! Let  my 
blessing  attend  you  on  your  road,  and  abide  with  you  throughout 
the  journey  of  life,  and  be  with  you  in  your  latest  hour  ! . . .” 

The  admirable  modesty  and  unobtrusive  piety  of  these  Ameri3an 
pilgrims  won  the  praises  even  of  the  Italian  press,  and  moved  the 
London  Times  to  pay  them  a compliment. 

Early  in  the  following  year  the  Holy  Father  made  another  great 
step  toward  raising  the  Church  in  the  United  States  from  the  mis- 
sionaiy  condition  in  which  it  had  been  from  the  beginning,  and  of 


The  American  Cardinalate. 


487 


besfcomng  on  the  relations  of  eaeh  diocese  with  the  Holy  See,  and 
of  the  various  ranks  of  the  clergy  toward  each  other  that  definite 
and  canonical  regularity  enjoyed  by  the  oldest  churches  of  Europe. 
In  the  solemn  consistory  held  on  March  the  15th,  the  Most  Rever- 
end John  McCloskey,  Archbishop  of  New  York,  was  raised  to  the 
cardinalate,  being  the  only  American  prelate  till  then  graced  with 
the  Roman  purple. 

It  was  a happy  innovation,  worthy  of  the  mind  and  heart  of  the 
pontiff,  and  accepted  by  the  entire  American  Church  and  people 
both  as  a testimony  of  regard  for  the  United  States  and  a mark  of 
high  esteem  for  the  modest  and  retiring  virtue,  and  the  long  life  of 
untiring  but  unobtrusive  devotion  to  duty,  of  the  revered  prelate 
to  whom  the  honor  came  so  unexpectedly.  At  the  very  beginning  of 
President  Lincoln’s  first  administration  this  dignity  had  been  re- 
peatedly solicited  for  Archbishop  Hughes,  both  by  Mr.  Lincoln  him- 
self and  by  Secretary  Seward,  who  entertained  a high  admiration 
and  a warm  friendship  for  that  illustrious  prelate.  But  it  had  been 
hoped  that  circumstances  would  permit  the  Holy  See  to  place  the 
hierarchy  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States  precisely  on  the  same 
footing  on  which  that  of  England  was  placed  when  the  new  episco- 
pal sees  were  created,  and  Cardinal  TViseman  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  restored  episcopal  body  as  Archbishop  of  Westminster. 

The  long  civil  war  interfered  with  the  accomplishment  of  the 
Holy  Father’s  purpose,  and  the  wishes  of  the  administration  at 
AVashington.  The  elevation  of  Archbishop  Hughes’s  successor  to 
the  proposed  dignity  was  a well-timed  compliment  to  the  memory 
of  the  dead,  the  merits  of  the  living,  and  the  greatness  of  the  coun- 
try ; it  was  an  earnest,  as  well,  of  the  coming  boon  of  a perfect 
reconstruction  of  our  ecclesiastical  system,  and,  just  as  this  chapter 
is  written,  the  tidings  come  over  the  electric  wires  that  Pio  Nono  is 
about  to  fulfill  his  cherished  design. 

Tlie  year  1876  was  chiefly  remarkable  in  the  Catholic  world  by  the 
unanimity  and  enthusiasm  with  which  the  faithful  children  of  the 
Church  prepared  to  celebrate  in  the  following  year  the  Pope’s  Epis- 
copal Jiihilce,  or  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  elevation  and  conse- 
cration to  the  episcopal  office.  One  act  of  his,  however,  is  of  spe- 
cial importance  to  the  Church  of  North  America,  the  bull  Inter 
varias  solicitudines^  by  which  he  gave  solemn  canonical  institution 
to  the  Laval  University  of  Quebec,  giving  it  rank  among  the  great 
Catholic  universities  of  the  past,  and  thereby  stimulating  the  Cath- 


Life  of  Pope  Plus  IX. 


4SS 

olic  body  throughout  North  America  to  spare  no  sacrifice  or  labor 
in  order  to  raise  higher  education  to  a level  with  the  best  aspirations 
of  the  present  and  the  glories  of  the  past.  A succursal  to  the  Laval 
University  had  previously  been  decreed  for  the  city  of  Montreal, 
and  in  1877  the  Holy  See  sent  the  Eight  Eeverend  George  Conroy, 
Bishop  of  Ardagh,  as  Delegate  Apostolic  to  Canada,  to  see  to  it  that 
these  dispositions  should  be  carried  out,  and  to  regulate  all  other 
ecclesiastical  matters  in  the  churches  of  that  prosperous  and  pro- 
gressive country. 

But  a very  special  mark  of  regard  and  affection  was  bestowed  on 
the  church  of  Quebec  in  June,  1874,  and  before  the  American  pil- 
grims had  left  the  Eternal  City.  The  see  of  Quebec  was  created  by 
the  Holy  See  on  October  the  1st,  1674  ; as  the  second  centenary  of 
this  event  was  to  be  celebrated  with  great  solemnity  indlie  following 
October,  the  sovereign  pontiff  elevated  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame 
to  ihe  dignity  of  a Basilica,  sent  a suit  of  pontifical  vestments  from 
his  own  chapel  to  be  used  on  the  occasion,  as  well  as  a magnificent 
reliquary  which  the  American  pilgrims  were  allowed  to  examine  and 
admire  during  their  stay. 

Upwards  of  sixty  dioceses  had  sprung  up  over  the  vast  extent 
once  subject  to  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  of  Quebec  : when  the  Pope 
was  yet  a boy,  British  America  had  but  that  one  episcopal  see,  and 
one  bishop  governed  the  whole  territory  now  possessed  by  the  Union. 
During  his  pontificate  both  countries  became  covered  with  flourish- 
ing churches,  divided  into  numerous  ecclesiastical  provinces,  gov- 
erned by  a host  of  archbishops  and  bishops,  this  gi’owth  resembling 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  faith  in  Gaul,  Italy,  and  Northern  Africa 
during  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century.  And  Australia  pre- 
sented a scarcely  less  consoling  spectacle. 

Elsewhere,  however,  as  in  the  Eussian  empire,  there  was  every- 
thing to  fill  the  fatherly  soul  of  the  pontiff  with  the  keenest  anguish. 
We  have  purposly  abstained  till  now  from  drawing  the  reader’s  at- 
tention to  the  incredible  atrocities  exercised  against  the  Uniates,  or 
united  Greek  Churches  in  Lithuania  by  the  government  of  the  Tsar. 
The  enfranchisement  of  the  serfs  by  the  present  emperor  in  the  first 
years  of  his  reign,  and  the  war  which  he  is  now  waging  against  Tur- 
key for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  avenging  the  cruelties  committed 
by  this  power  against  her  Christian  subjects,  have  given  to  Alexander 
II.  such  popularity  both  in  England  and  America  that  the  public  is 
very  loath  to  credit  him  with  anything  like  a persecuting  spirit. 


Atrocious  Persecutions  in  Russian  Poland,  489 

Fortunately  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  humanity  there  now  exists 
Buch  overwhelming  evidence  on  this  matter  that  doubt  can  he  no 
longer  permitted.  And  men  who  again  and  again  blamed  Pius  IX., 
destitute  as  he  long  has  been  of  all  effectual  support  from  the 
Catholic  powers,  for  his  repeated  and  bitter  denunciation  of  the 
heartless,  systematic,  and  ever-increasing  rigors  practiced  against 
Polish  Catholics  by  the  Eussian  government,  must  henceforth  be 
just,  and  praise  him  for  the  courage  which  dared  to  arraign  before 
Christendom  the  blackest  deeds  of  persecution  mentioned  in  all 
history. 

In  April  of  this  year  Mr.  Owen  Lewis  moved,  in  the  British  House 
of  Commons,  that  the  State  papers  pertaining  to  the  treatment  of 
the  Polish  Catholics  by  Eussia  should  be  made  public.  The  princi- 
pal evidence  is  derived  from  the  dispatches  of  the  English  Consul- 
General  in  Poland,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mansfield,  and  of  Lord  Au- 
gustus Loftus,  ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg. 

Colonel  Mansfield  relates  to  Lord  Granville  the  efforts  made  in 
1871  by  the  Eussian  government  to  frighten  the  IJniate  priests  of  the 
diocese  of  Chelm  into  compliance  with  the  imperial  will  by  using 
their  influence  to  drive  their  flocks  into  the  Eussian  communion. 
During  the  ensuing  years  the  result  of  these  coercive  measures,  under 
the  guise  of  moral  suasion,”  was  to  fill  the  country  with  strife,  dis- 
order, and  violence. 

On  January  the  29th,  1874,  Colonel  Mansfield  reports  that  fresh 
attempts  are  being  made  by  the  authorities  to  compass  their  purpose, 
aocompanied  by  ^‘a  renewal  of  disturbances  in  the  districts  inhab- 
ited by  the  United  Greeks  in  the  government  of  Siedlce  and  Lublin, 
resulting  in  bloodshed,  loss  of  life,  and  the  most  barbarous  treatment 
inflicted  on  the  peasants.”  At  one  place  in  the  district  of  Mincie- 
wicz,  the  peasants  had  guarded  their  church  against  a schismatical 
priest  forced  upon  them.  They  were  surrounded  by  the  military, 
and  were  given  the  choice  of  signing  a declaration  accepting  the 
priest ; and  on  their  refusal  fifty  blows  with  the  nagaiha  (Cossack 
whip)  were  given  to  every  adult  man,  twenty-five  to  every  woman, 
and  ten  to  every  child  irrespective  of  age  or  sex — one  woman  who 
was  more  vehement  than  the  rest  receiving  as  much  as  a hundred.” 

A system  of  fines  was  next  tried,  but  without  any  better  effect.  In 
the  summer  the  emperor  visited  Warsaw  in  person,  and  the  aggrieved 
Uniats  attempted  to  approach  him  with  a petition,  but  were  repelled, 
and  thenceforward,  as  Colonel  Mansfield  relates,  ^^the  massacres” 


490 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


increased  in  ferocity,  and  tlie  Cossacks  received  orders  to  '‘hunt 
down”  the  Uniats  and  to  destroy  their  crops,  all  of  which  were 
ruthlessly  carried  out. 

In  the  beginning  of  1875  it  was  announced  by  the  official  journals 
of  St.  Petersburg  that  forty-five  parishes,  containing  fifty  thousand 
persons  and  twenty-six  priests,  had  renounced  communion  with  Rome 
and  joined  the  Russian  Church.  This  announcement  made  a great 
noise  in  England  and  in  the  United  States,  and  was  triumphantly 
quoted  as  one  proof  more  of  the  results  of  Vaticanism.” 

Lord  Augustus  Loftus,  however,  bravely  tore  the  mask  from  the 
face  of  the  orthodox  persecutor,  in  his  dispatch  of  January  the  29th, 
1875.  The  passing  over,”  he  says,  of  these  fifty  thousand  United 
Greeks  has  been  effected  by  various  means,  in  which  physical  mal- 
treatment has  formed  a not  inconsiderable  element.  . . . The 

details  of  the  different  degrees  of  compulsion  in  the  various  villages 
would  take  too  much  space  to  relate  ; but  I cite,  as  a specimen,  what 
I heard  from  a gentleman,  of  wdiose  veracity  I have  no  reason  to 
doubt,  of  what  took  place  on  a village  on  his  property.  The 
peasants  were  assembled  and  beaten  by  the  Cossacks  until  the 
military  surgeon  stated  that  more  would  endanger  life ; they  were 
then  driven  through  a half-frozen  river  up  to  their  waists  into  the 
parish  church,  through  files  of  soldiers,  where  their  names  were 
entered  in  the  petition  as  above,  and  passed  out  at  an  opposite  door, 
the  peasants  all  the  time  crying  out.  You  may  call  us  Orthodox,  hut 
we  remain  in  the  faith  of  our  father 

Two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  were,  according  to  the  same  au- 
thority, converted”  by  similar  methods  in  the  government  of  Lu- 
blin. But  in  Januaiy,  1876,  Colonel  Mansfield  affirmed  that  the  con- 
verts did  not  even  then  admit  of  their  change  of  faith,  sturdily  re- 
fusing the  services  of  any  but  their  own  priests,  baptizing  their  own 
babes,  and  burying  their  dead,  and  declining  to  enter  the  Russian 
churches. 

So  Alexander  II.  faithfully  copied  the  examples  set  him  by  his 
uncle,  the  emperor  of  Germany. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 


THE  ^‘EPISCOPAL  JUBILEE’’  OF  1877. 

Darker  than  any  one  of  the  thirty  preceding  years  of  his 
pontificate  dawned  for  Pius  IX.  the  year  1877.  The  Italian 
government,  then  administered  by  the  very  faction  of  extremists, 
whom  Cavour  had  considered  the  worst  enemies  of  the  reconcilia- 
tion ” which  he  wished  to  effect  between  the  rights  of  the  Church 
and  the  rights  of  Italy,  was  enacting  the  most  tyrannical  laws  against 
ecclesiastical  freedom.  ‘‘The  Clerical  Abuses  Bill,”  as  this  latest 
fruit  of  anti-Catholic  intolerance  was  called,  enacts  the  severest  pen- 
alties against  all  persons — clergymen  especially — of  whatever  grade, 
who  under  any  circumstances,  in  public  or  in  private,  give  utterance 
to  censure  of  the  acts  of  the  government.  Thereby  a priest  in  the 
confessional,  or  administering  the  sacraments  to  the  dying,  by  the 
mere  refusal  of  absolution  to  the  worst  criminals,  the  plunderers 
of  the  Church,  or  the  authors  of  the  greatest  evils  under  which  she 
is  suffering,  would,  on  the  complaint  of  the  penitent,  be  liable  to 
fine,  imprisonment,  or  exile.  It  was  one  of  the  avowed  objects  of 
this  abominable  law,  as  openly  declared  in  parliament  by  its  authors, 
that  although  they  could  not  punish  the  Pope  himself  without  vio- 
lating the  Law  of  Guarantees,  yet  they  could  punish  any  inferior 
ecclesiastic  who  should  dare  to  obey  the  Pope’s  orders,  or  who 
even  printed  or  published  the  Pope’s  utterances  or  censures. 

This  was  taking  away  from  the  sovereign  pontiff  the  very  last 
shadow  of  moral  freedom,  and  confirming  the  judgment  iDronounced 
by  him  from  the  beginning  on  the  Law  of  Guarantees,  that  it  was 
but  a sham  and  a fraud. 

On  March  the  12th  the  Holy  Father  held  a solemn  consistory,  and 
delivered  to  the  cardinals  an  allocution ; he  recited  the  wrongs  of 
the  Piedmontese  government  since  the  invasion  of  September,  1870, 
ending  by  this  law,  which  aims  at  taking  away  from  the  clergy  all 
liberty  in  the  exercise  of  their  spiritual  functions. 

“By  this  law,”  the  Holy  Father  says,  “the  words  and  writings 
of  every  description  uttered  by  the  ministers  of  the  altar  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  sacred  office,  and  disapproving  or  censuring  any  act 

491 


492 


Life  of  Fupe  Pius  IX, 


or  decree  of  tlie  public  authority,  though  never  so  opposed  to  the 
laws  of  God  or  of  the  Church,  are  equally  liable  to  punishment.” 

A lay  tribunal  will  pronounce  on  the  specific  nature  of  the  acts 
denounced  to  it  as  infractions  of  this  law,  and  decide  whether  a priest 
had  a right  to  refuse  absolution  to  persons  under  sentence  of  excom- 
munication, or  to  censure  in  the  pulpit  or  in  private  conversation 
this  same  law  and  its  tendencies. 

How  is  it  possible  for  us  to  govern  the  Church,”  the  Pope  con- 
tinues, under  the  domination  of  a power  which  continually  takes 
away  from  us  every  means  and  protection  needed  for  the  exercise 
of  our  apostleship  ? . . . We  cannot  sufficiently  wonder  that 

men  should  be  found  who  . . . endeavor  to  make  it  believed, 

and  persuade  the  people,  that  the  present  position  of  the  sovereign 
pontiff  in  Eome  is  such  that,  even  placed  as  he  is  under  the  domina- 
tion of  another  power,  he  enjoys  full  liberty,  and  is  able  peacefully 
and  fully  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  spiritual  primacy.  . . .” 

^‘Now  assuredly  is  displayed  in  a clear  light,  and  in  every  point  of 
view  to  the  whole  world,  the  value,  the  validity,  and  the  trustworthi- 
ness of  these  concessions  with  which,  as  in  mockery  of  the  faithful, 
our  enemies  ostentatiously  proclaimed  themselves  in  favor  of  the 
liberty  and  dignity  of  the  Eoman  pontiff,  which  liberty  and  dignity 
should  repose  on  the  arbitrary  caprice  and  hostile  will  of  a govern- 
ment possessing  the  power  to  adopt,  maintain,  interpret,  and  give 
effect  to  them  according  to  its  own  designs  and  principles,  and  at  its 
own  pleasure. 

No,  no ; certain  it  is  that  the  Eoman  pontiff  is  not,  and  will 
not  be  in  possession  of  full  liberty  or  full  freedom  of  action  so  long 
as  he  is  the  subject  of  others  who  rule  in  his  own  city.  Never  can 
his  position  in  Eome  be  other  than  that  of  a sovereign  prince  or  of  a 
captive  ; nor  can  the  peace,  security,  and  tranquillity  of  the  Catholic 
Church  ever  exist  ^o  long  as  the  exercise  of  the  Supreme  Apostolic 
Ministry  is  subjected  to  conflicts  of  parties,  the  caprice  of  those  in 
power,  to  the  uncertainties  of  political  elections,  or  to  the  schemes 
and  proceedings  of  crafty  men,  wffio  place  expediency  before  justice. 

It  is  our  earnest  wish  and  desire  that  all  pastors  of  churches 
spread  far  and  wide  throughout  the  whole  world  may  be  incited  by 
our  words  to  make  known  to  their  flocks  the  dangers,  attacks,  and 
troubles  growing  daily  more  grievous,  with  which  we  are  distressed, 
and  to  assure  them,  that,  let  the  issue  of  affairs  be  what  it  may,  we 
shall  never  desist  from  denouncing  the  iniquities  perpetrated  before 


The  ^'‘Episcopal  Jubilee''  of 


493 


our  eyes  ; but  that  it  may  possibly  come  to  pass  by  reason  of  tbe 
laws  lately  proposed,  and  of  others  still  more  stringent,  which  are 
threatened,  that  our  voice  may  only  be  able  to  reach  them  more 
seldom,  and  with  great  difficulty.  . . T 

He  then  warns  the  faithful  not  to  be  misled  by  the  falsehoods 
circulated  by  the  government  and  press  of  Italy,  summing  up  the 
situation  in  these  words  : The  Church  of  God  in  Italy  suffers 
yiolence  and  persecution  ; the  vicar  of  Christ  enjoys  neither  liberty 
nor  the  unfettered  and  complete  use  of  his  own  power.’’ 

He  therefore  recommends  earnestly  that  bishops  would  stir  up 
the  faithful  over  whom  they  preside  to  press  upon  the  attention 
of  their  rulers,  by  every  legal  means,  a more  careful  consideration 
of  the  serious  position  in  which  the  Head  of  the  Catholic  Church 
is  placed,  and  of  the  adoption  of  effectual  plans  for  the  removal 
of  the  obstacles  to  his  real  and  perfect  independence.” 

This  situation  was  already  present  to  the  minds  of  all  enlightened 
Catholics — to  the  minds  of  all,  indeed,  who  were  not  blinded  by 
mere  political  passion  or  religious  prejudices.  These  words  were  an 
appeal  to  international  law,  and  to  the  conscientious  and  most  sacred 
right  of  all  Catholics  throughout  the  world  to  have  the  vicar  of 
Christ  free  to  govern  the  Church,  and  their  own  communications 
with  him  unembarrassed  by  any  earthly  power. 

The  solution  of  this  new  Eoman  difficulty  was  then  intrusted  to  the 
hands  of  the  entire  Catholic  body,  and  of  the  governments  interested 
in  having  their  religious  rights  respected.  It  was  really  an  appeal 
to  the  justice  of  Christendom. 

Coming,  as  the  allocution  did,  in  the  early  spring,  and  at  the  mo- 
ment when  from  every  point  of  the  Catholic  world  pilgrims  were 
about  to  set  out  for  Eome,  it  had  the  effect  of  quickening  the  exist- 
ing enthusiasm,  while  it  stirred  up  many  prelates  and  distinguished 
laymen  to  appeal  to  public  opinion  in  their  own  country,  or  to  reach 
the  Italian  government  by  crying  shame  on  it  within  its  own  ter- 
ritory. 

The  magnificent  movement  of  the  Catholic  populations  toward 
Eome,  what  they  were  forced  to  see  and  hear  there  in  spite  of  the 
restraints  placed  on  the  anti-Catholic  press  and  populace,  convinced 
them  that  the  Holy  Father  had  spoken  the  truth,  and  not  the  whole 
truth,  about  his  own  captivity.  In  spite  of  present  political  obstacles 
the  moral  force  of  a sound  public  opinion  favorable  to  interference 
in  his  behalf,  is  daily  gaining  strength.  There  is  no  thought  of  a 


494 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


recourse  to  arms ; but  tlie  day  is  not  far  distant  when  England  and 
France  and  Spain  and  Portugal  will  find  it  impossible  not  to  raise 
their  voice  in  favor  of  the  liberty  of  the  common  father.  And  it  is 
not  less  certain  that  the  United  States  and  Canada,  with  Brazil  and 
the  whole  of  Spanish  America,  will  be  made  to  join  in  these  reclama- 
tions. It  is  only  necessary  to  make  the  non-Catholic  mind  see  clearly 
how  the  Italian  government  is  violating  the  dearest  principles  of 
civil  and  religious  freedom,  for  which  we  have  been  contending  all 
our  liv^es,  and  oo  show  up  the  Ucter  hypocrisy  of  this  Depretis  govern- 
ment, to  obtain  all  that  we  desire. 

Unless  it  so  happen  that  Germany  and  Kussia  will  prevail  over  the 
rest  of  Europe,  and  allow  their  ally,  Italy,  to  have  it  all  her  own 
way  in  Eome,  as  in  the  Peninsula. 

It  was  a revelation  to  the  whole  civilized  world  this  flocking  to 
Rome  in  May  and  June  of  the  representatives  of  every  diocese  in 
communion  with  the  See  of  Peter.  No  letters  of  invitation  had 
called  the  prelates  of  the  Church  to  meet  in  Rome,  as  in  1854  and 
1867  ; no  authoritative  summons  from  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  Christ’s 
flock  convened  them  in  general  council,  as  in  1869.  This  was  a 
spontaneous  movement  of  the  Catholic  heart,  as  in  1871.  But  in 
1871  the  occasion  was  unique ; it  was  to  celebrate  an  event  which 
opened  up  a new  era  in  the  pontifical  traditions,  by  substituting 
'‘The  days  of  Pius”  for  “The  days  of  Peter.”  But  the  Episcopal 
Jubilee  of  1877  had  not  that  historical  importance  which  attaches 
to  the  celebration  of  June  the  16th  and  August  the  23d,  1871. 
Whence,  then,  this  increase  of  personal  interest  and  cordial  enthu- 
siasm, this  surpassing  display  of  love,  of  veneration,  of  fidelity  ? 

From  the  fact  that  the  venerable  man — to  whom  all  hearts  in  the 
wide  Catholic  world  turned  as  spontaneously  and  as  lovingly  as  the 
flowers  at  dawn  seek  the  eye  of  the  sun — was  the  father  of  all,  sub- 
jected, in  spite  of  a liberality  of  spirit  never  before  exceeded,  to  most 
undeserved  misfortunes,  to  contumely  and  menace  in  the  home 
which  was  that  of  all  Christians,  and  that  he  was  to  celebrate  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  day  when  the  episcopal  cross  was  placed 
on  his  breast  as  a pledge  of  uninterrupted  suffering  in  return  for 
undying  love. 

Even  apart  from  the  cruel  fate  which  political  treachery  had  inflict- 
ed on  him,  there  was  the  true,  heartfelt  love  of  two  hundred  millions 
of  human  beings,  nine- tenths  of  whom  had  been  born  under  his  pon- 
tificate. The  young  men,  the  men  of  mature  age,  the  old  men  even, 


The  Episcopal  yuhilee''  of  i8yy. 


495 


had  been  trained  in  his  religious  teaching.  They  were  of  his  own 
rearing.  Members  of  Catholic  unions,  associates  in  the  manifold 
forms  under  which  piety  is  practiced  in  common  and  charity  ex- 
ercised toward  the  needy  in  body  or  in  spirit,  men  who  had  been  the 
soul  of  Catholic  congresses,  or  had  shone  in  the  senate,  on  the  judi- 
cial bench  or  at  the  bar,  writers  of  world- wide  fame,  and  journalists 
who  had  made  their  profession  a world- wide  power  and  apostleship — 
these  were  the  sons  who  thronged  from  afar  to  the  Vatican,  to  glad- 
den the  eyes  of  the  Patriarch  among  Popes — the  new  Israel,  whom 
God  had  made  strong  in  a thousand  battles  with  error  and  iniquity. 
We  shall  hear  the  words  of  this  great  parent  of  many  tribes,  as  his 
aged  eyes  rest  on  them  and  lovingly  survey  their  manifold  glory ; he 
will  have  a special  blessing  and  utter  a special  prophecy  for  each. 

What  would  a golden  throne  be  for  Pius  IX.,  throning  as  he  does 
on  the  devoted  hearts  of  these  millions  ? or  who  would  not  put  aside 
the  title  of  great  for  that  of  beloved,  if,  indeed,  any  title  were  want- 
ing to  the  dear  and  glorious  name  of  Pio  Xono  ? 

Savoy — happily  saved  by  annexation  to  Prance  from  the  tender 
mercies  of  Italian  radicalism — sent  her  four  hundred  deputies  on 
the  morning  of  April  the  30th,  with  the  bishops  of  Tarentaise  and 
S.  Jean  de  Maurienne  ; and  very  grateful  to  the  Holy  Father  was  the 
warm  and  unchangeable  piety  of  these  good  Savoyards,  seeing  what 
he  had  to  endure  from  the  recreant  king  who  had  given  them  up  for 
a bed  of  thorns  in  the  Quirinal.  On  May  the  2d  the  Breton  pil- 
grims, not  a little  like  the  Savoyards  in  their  fidelity,  offered  their 
separate  homage  ; and  on  May  the  5th  came  the  great  French  depu- 
tation, fifteen  hundred  persons,  headed  by  Count  de  Damas,  who 
read  the  address.  The  Holy  Father  replied  in  French  with  admira- 
ble appropriateness  and  eloquence. 

England  had  her  turn  at  noon  on  the  10th  of  May.  There  was  an 
address  signed  by  500,000  English  Catholics,  with  £15,000,  with- 
out counting  many  precious  personal  jubilee  gifts  and  offerings. 
There  was  also  a most  beautiful  address  in  Latin  fron  the  Catholic 
Union  of  England.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk  with  his  youthful  sisters 
was  there,  proud  of  the  noble  men  and  women  who  stood  around 
him  to  represent  the  Catholic  England  of  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  hopeful  future,  but  as  humble  as  any  simple-hearted  child  in 
presence  of  his  august  parent.  Pius  IX.  was  much  moved.  He 
spoke  of  the  great  progress  of  the  faith  in  their  island.  Nor  could 
it  well  be  otherwise,  for  you  possess  in  heaven  many,  many  saints. 


496 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


, . . After  the  grace  of  God,  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  the 

zeal  of  the  Catholic  priesthood,  we  owe  the  wonderful  progress  of  the 
faith  to  the  tolerance  of  the  English  government. 

God  then  be  ever  thanked  for  these  mercies ! I with  all  my 
heart  bless  you  on  this  day,  so  especially  proper  for  blessing.  It  is 
the  feast  of  the  Ascension.  And  he,  before  leaving  the  earth,  lift- 
ing up  Ms  hands f . . . hlessed  them,^ 

pray  God  to  sustain  in  this  instant  the  arm  of  his  aged  and  un- 
worthy vicar,  in  imparting  a benediction  which  may  produce  copious 
fruits  in  the  amendment  of  lives,  which  may  bring  peace  into  fami- 
lies. . . . May  God  bless  you  now  while  time  is  with  you,  to  the 

end  that  you  may  be  rendered  worthy  of  praising  him  in  the  eternal 
ages  of  Paradise  ! ” 

Two  venerable  ladies,  the  soul  of  every  good  work  in  London,  the 
Marchionesses  of  Lothian  and  Londonderry,  were  not  able  to  be  in  the 
audience-room.  The  former  was  on  her  death-bed,  and  her  friend 
was  by  her  side : two  of  the  noblest  women  who  have  graced  England 
and  Ireland  in  our  day. 

On  the  12th  the  Scottish  deputation,  headed  by  Bishop  Strain, 
was  presented.  ‘^Distant  Scotland,”  the  bishop  said,  “the  Ultima 
Thule,  comes  forward  with  the  other  nations  of  the  world  to  offer  her 
homage  on  this  occasion.  She  was  once  a most  faithful  handmaid 
of  the  Holy  See  : ” and  the  good  bishop  expressed  a desire  for  the  res- 
toration of  the  Scottish  hierarchy.  “Yes,”  the  Pope  said,  “I  do 
wish  to  restore  it ; but  hitherto  the  times  have  not  been  favorable. 
But  let  us  pray  to  St.  Margaret — as  I often  do — and  let  us  hope  ! ” 

The  French-Canadian  pilgrims  had  their  turn  on  May  the  11th. 
The  Bishop  of  Sherbrooke,  after  an  eloquent  address,  presented  as  a 
jubilee  offering  from  the  seven  dioceses  of  the  ecclesiastical  province 
of  Quebec,  some  86,000  francs.  On  the  same  day  there  were  French 
deputations  from  Rodez,  and  on  the  13th  from  Lyons.  It  was  the 
Pope’s  birthday,  and  the  French  pilgrims  had  chosen  this  for  their 
presentation.  On  the  15th  came  the  pilgrims  from  Holland,  men 
of  the  true  old  Catholic  stock,  whose  fathers  had  remained  firm  in 
spite  of  the  general  apostasy.  They  were  only  the  forerunners  of  one 
thousand  pilgrims  from  Germany. 

They  were  presented  on  the  17th.  Twenty  cardinals  and  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Parma  were  near  the  Holy  Father,  who  was 
greeted  on  his  appearance  with  the  hymn  to  Pius  IX.,  sung  by  the 
students  of  the  German  College  in  Rome.  It  was  a splendid  assem- 


The  “ Episcopal  Jubilee  ” of 


497 


blage ; and  any  one  who  looked  upon  the  array  of  titled  nobles,  the 
men  of  letters  and  journalists  who  composed  that  earnest  throng, 
must  have  felt  that  the  sword  of  Bismark  must  needs  blunt  itself 
against  such  metal  of  proof  as  they  were  made  of. 

‘‘In  our  times,”  the  Pope  said,  in  answer  to  their  address,  “ I have 
heard  honest  and  good  Prussian  Catholics  say,  that  there  was  need  of 
some  one  to  arouse  the  people,  who  had  become  somewhat  slugglish. 
God  has  indeed  raised  his  arm,  and  has  used  a scourge,  as  he  did 
many  centuries  ago.  Then  it  was  Attila  that  he  employed  to  awaken 
the  nations  from  their  torpor.  To-day  a new  Attila  has  broken  the 
slumber  of  noble  Germany. 

“ This  modern  Attila  purposed  to  destroy  ; and  lo  ! he  has  built 
up ! He  has  given  your  faith  renewed  vigor.  Your  bishops  have 
fearlessly  repeated  the  saying  of  St.  Boniface  to  bishops  assembled  in 
convention  long  ago  : We  are  not  dumb  dogs : let  us  lift  our  voices 
for  the  Lord,  We  are  hi  troubled  times : let  us  die,  if  need  be,  for 
the  holy  laws  of  our  fathers! 

“May  God  bless  you  and  grant  you  that  grace  which  is  the  crown 
of  all  others — final  perseverance  ! . . . May  he  bless  you  in  your 

souls,  in  your  families,  in  your  labors,  that  whatever  you  do  be  done 
to  his  glory,  your  own  good,  and  the  edification  of  your  neighbors  ! ” 

On  Tliursday,  the  2Ith  of  May,  the  pilgrims  from  the  United 
States — eleven  bishops,  about  forty  priests,  and  a hundred  laymen — 
were  received  in  the  Consistorial  Hall.  The  Archbishop  of  Philadel- 
phia read  the  address  in  the  name  of  all.  “All  of  us  here  present,” 
the  prelate  said,  “whatever  be  our  ecclesiastical  or  civil  station,  de- 
sire to-day  to  have  no  other  title  than  that  which  to  us  is  the  sweet- 
est and  noblest,  the  title  of  most  loving  children  of  your  Holiness, 
and  the  most  faithful  disciples  of  the  Holy  See  of  Peter.”  There 
were  special  addresses  from  the  clergy  and  laity  of  New  York  and 
from  the  Xavier  Union.  The  jubilee  ofierings  were  worthy  of  the 
country  and  the  people. 

The  affectionate  answer,  that  of  a father  proud  of  children,  over- 
flowing with  youth  and  life  and  energy,  warned  his  hearers  against 
the  too-absorbing  pursuit  of  material  advantages,  to  the  neglect  of 
spiritual  ends ; and  against  the  danger  of  pride  begotten  of  worldly 
abundance  and  greatness.  They  should  cultivate  humility  and  self- 
abasement.  He  would  pray  in  a special  manner  that  faith  should 
flourish  and  endure  in  America,  and  that  heaven’s  best  gifts  should 
ever  be  hers. 


493 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


On  the  same  day  the  Irish  members  of  parliament  presented  an  ad- 
dress by  special  deputation. 

On  the  21st  the  committees  of  Roman  nobles  and  Catholic  young 
men  offered  the  Holy  Father  a large  alms  with  a beautiful  volume 
containing  the  names  of  the  subscribers.  The  next  day  Herr  Aner, 
proprietor  of  the  leading  Catholic  journals  in  Germany,  laid  at  the  Holy 
Father’s  feet  four  immense  volumes,  containing  200,000  signatures 
of  devoted  children  of  the  Holy  See,  all  German  youths  ! From  Mar- 
seilles and  Limoges  deputations  brought  a magnificent  throne  and 
two  splendid  porcelain  vases.  And  on  the  23d  Catholic  Belgium 
had  her  turn. 

And  so  day  after  day,  without  cessation,  this  grand,  this  incom- 
parable procession  of  noble  pilgrims  of  every  race  and  country,  con- 
tinued to  pass  through  the  streets  of  astonished  Rome,  beneath  the 
shadow  of  the  desecrated  Quirinal,  toward  Christ’s  mighty  shrine 
above  his  martyr’s  tomb,”  and  to  the  feet  of  that  father  of  the  nations 
in  the  Vatican  ! Why  did  not  Hippolyte  Flandrin  live  to  see  these 
days,  and  to  chronicle  their  memory  in  groups  more  sublime  than  he 
has  left  on  the  walls  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres  ? 

Persecuted  Switzerland — the  Catholic,  the  heroic,  the  faithful — 
came  on  May  the  26th.  Bishop  Mermillod  was  there,  a rapt  listener 
to  all  he  heard,  he  so  eloquent  and  ever  so  well  inspired  ! The  Holy 
Father  had  touching  memories  to  recall  of  his  faithful  Swiss  soldiers, 
and  the  brave  deeds  of  so  many  generations  of  liberty-loving  men. 

To  these  succeeded  the  Austrian  pilgrims  on  the  27th  ; on  the28tb 
Monsignor  Kirby,  with  an  address  and  offering  from  the  diocese  of 
Raphoe ; and  on  the  29th  the  Cardinal  Patriarch  of  Lisbon,  with 
about  two  hundred  Portuguese  pilgrims,  among  them  many  a proud 
historic  name.  How  could  the  Holy  Father  help  being  moved  by 
the  presence  of  these  representatives  of  a nation  once  the  glory  of 
Christendom  and  foremost  in  civilization  and  living  faith  ? He  de- 
plored the  incalculable  mischief  Freemasonry  had  done  in  that  beau- 
tiful country,  spoke  kindly  of  the  royal  family,  and  invoked  a fervent 
benediction  on  the  present  and  the  absent. 

May  the  30th  was  marked  by  the  arrival  of  the  Croatians,  headed 
by  Archbishop  Mihalovits  and  Bishop  Strossmayer,  and  after  them 
came  the  Archbishop  of  Spoleto,  with  a numerous  deputation  of  his 
diocesans.  The  good  Pope  had  an  hour  of  intense  enjoyment  with 
men  who  loved  him  in  so  especial  a manner,  and  whom  he  seemed 
to  regard  as  his  own  dearest  children. 


499 


The  '^Episcopal  Jubilee''  of 

TLe  31st  brought  more  pilgrims  from  Bourges,  in  France,  from 
Calcutta,  and  from  the  two  opposite  extremities  of  Italy,  Como  and 
Calabria. 

June  the  2d  was  the  eye  of  the  anniyersary.  It  was  the  priyilege 
of  the  Sacred  College  to  present  congratulations,  with  a beautiful 
medal  struck  by  them  for  the  occasion.  In  his  answer  the  Holy 
Father  alluded  to  the  deputations  sent  by  St.  John  the  Baptist  to 
Christ,  to  inquire  whether  he  were  truly  the  expected  Messiah.  To 
those  who  doubted  as  to  which  was  the  true  religion,  he,  the  Pope, 
would  point  out  the  present  ardent  and  spontaneous  moyement  of 
souls  toward  the  Church. 

On  leaying  the  throne-room  he  met  three  deputations  from 
Naples.  Sunday,  the  3d,  was  the  great  anniyersary;  and  the  re- 
publicans had  got  up  a meeting  in  the  Apollo  theatre  to  protest 
against  this  uniyersal  reaction  in  fayor  of  the  Pope.  Their  eloquence 
and  efforts  were  as  effectual  in  this  instance,  as  the  labor  of  a certain 
classic  dame  was  in  mopping  out  the  rising  tide. 

The  religious  celebration  was  held  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  in 
Chains,  where  Gioyanni  Mastai  had  been  consecrated  Archbishop  of 
Spoleto,  fifty  years  before.  We  omit  further  mention  of  it.  At  the 
Vatican  the  day  was  set  apart  for  the  reception  of  Italian  pilgrims. 

At  noon  three  thousand  Italians  headed  by  Commendatore  Acqua- 
derni  surrounded  the  Holy  Father.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  Italy  neyer  beheld  a nobler  band  assembled  in  one  spot.  The 
address  was  presented  but  not  read  ; the  weather  was  oppressiye,  and 
the  Holy  Father  had  been  forbidden  making  a discourse.  But  per- 
sons who  were  present  describe  the  emotion,  all  subdued  though  it 
was,  as  resembling  the  silent  heaying  of  a mighty  sea.  On  Monday 
there  was  a still  greater  inflow  of  Italians.  In  one  hall  priests,  in 
another  were  the  nobles  of  Milan,  and  in  a third  the  nobles  of 
Bologna.  And  so  it  continued  the  next  day — deputations  from 
Corfu,  Dante,  and  Cephalonia  pressing  on  the  heels  of  the  Italians  ; 
and  on  the  6th  the  Pope  was  electrified  by  the  arriyal  of  seyeral  hun- 
dreds of  Poles,  headed  by  Cardinal  Ledochowski,  and  bearing  the 
image  of  our  Lady  of  Czestochowa,  the  most  yenerated  of  Polish 
sanctuaries. 

The  next  day  Ireland’s  sons  streamed  through  Rome  up  to  the 
Vatican  and  filled  the  Consistorial  Hall.  Cardinal  Cullen  and  four 
other  bishops  were  with  their  brethren. 

After  the  reading  of  seyeral  most  beautiful  addresses  the  Holy  • 


5oo 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Father  replied,  praising  the  earnest  faith  of  those  before  him.  Aa 
he  stood  up  to  give  the  apostolic  benediction  he  said  that  he  wished 
to  give  them  a blessing  such  as  dying  Jacob  gave  to  his  sons.  The 
holy  patriarch  prayed  that  his  descendants  might  be  multiplied,  and 
he  would  pray,  that  the  phalanxes  of  brave  soldiers  of  the  faith  he 
saw  before  him  should  be  increased  and  multiplied  into  a conquering 
army  against  the  enemies  of  Christ. 

From  Calcutta  Mr.  Walter  Bourke,  a scion  of  the  same  brave  old 
race,  presented  an  address  from  the  Catholic  citizens,  and  most 
valuable  gifts.  The  Irish  pilgrims  from  Montreal,  Canada,  were 
still  on  the  road,  after  having  been  detained  for  several  weeks  on 
their  voyage.  But  the  reception  given  them  was  all  the  more 
hearty  for  the  dangers  encountered  and  the  tediousness  of  their 
journey. 

On  Sunday,  the  10th  of  May,  the  Catholic  press  of  both  hemi- 
spheres had  a special  reception.  Five  hundred  Catholic  journals 
were  represented.  The  Archbishop  of  Bologna,  who  had  been  the 
founder  of  such  journals,  and  who  still  loved  to  contribute  to  them, . 
read  the  address. 

Ilis  Holiness  observed  that  when  he  was  in  Gaeta,  twenty-nine 
years  ago,  it  occurred  to  him  to  endeavor  to  remedy  the  evils  pro- 
duced so  largely  by  impious  and  libertine  journals  by  opposing  their 
venomous  corruption  by  the  antidote  of  sound  and  instructive  jour- 
nalism. He  then  made  an  appeal  to  good  and  illustrious  men,  who 
gave  a full  and  earnest  response  to  his  entreaties.  Other  Catholics  in 
Italy  and  elsewhere,  with  a noble  zeal  worthy  of  all  praise,  dedicated 
themselves  to  the  defense  of  the  injured  rights  of  the  Church,  and 
to  uphold  the  eternal  principles  of  truth  and  justice.  But,  as  is 
usually  the  case  with  all  things  human,  of  which  even  the  best  dc 
mundano  pulvere  sordesciint,  it  was  to  be  deplored  that  even  Catholic 
journalism  contained  something  defective  of  Avhich  he  should  ever 
complain  until  it  was  eliminated  and  removed.  This  defect  was  the 
W'ant  of  concord  and  charity.  lie  would  remind  them  that  from 
union  sprang  strength,  and  that  the  soldier  who  neglected  discipline 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy  was  often  the  cause  of  defeat.  He  there- 
fore advised  them  first  of  all  to  have  union,  and  next  to  have  charity. 
Their  duty  was  to  attack  error  and  vice,  and  to  smite  wickedness 
even  at  the  peril  of  their  lives.  But  Christian  charity  obliged  them 
to  respect  and  spare  individuals.  The  serpent  when  too  bitterly 
smitten  is  apt  to  turn  wdth  still  fiercer  venom  upon  assailants. 


The  '^Episcopal  yuhilee  ” of  iS'/y. 


5o 


Last  year  when  addressing  the  Spanish  pilgrims  he  took  occasion 
to  speak  to  them  about  their  bull  fights.  He  thought  he  might 
draw  an  illustration  from  the  same  source  when  recommending 
union  to  the  Catholic  press.  The  hull,  when  assailed  by  one  man 
only,  could  very  well  defend  himself,  and  often  got  the  victory  over  a 
single  foe.  But  he  seemed  struck  with  terror  and  took  to  flight 
when  he  saw  before  him  a compact  and  united  band  of  toreadores. 
The  same  tactics  should  be  employed  by  Catholic  journalists  against 
the  revolution.  His  Holiness  then  prayed  that  this  spirit  of  union 
might  descend  from  heaven  into  the  minds  of  Catholic  writers.  He 
would  give  his  hearers  his  special  benediction,  and  invoke  for 
them  a portion  of  the  strength  of  God  the  Father,  a portion  of 
the  wisdom  of  the  Son,  and  a portion  of  the  love  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

The  press  audience  on  the  10th  inst.  was  attended  by  representa- 
tives from  all  parts  of  the  world,  who  brought  numerous  offerings. 
The  Archbishop  of  Bologna  is  the  proprietor  of  the  Scuola  CattoUca, 
of  Milan,  a most  excellent  periodical. 

Spain — the  Catholic  Spain — came  late,  but  none  the  less  welcome 
to  the  Holy  Father.  There  were  a thousand  pilgrims,  led  by  the 
Cardinals  Benavides  and  Paya  y Eico,  and  seven  bishops.  Address 
and  offerings  were  like  worthy  of  the  great  nation  from  whose  heart 
they  came. 

The  Holy  Father,  in  replying  to  the  Spanish  address,  said  he  was 
somewhat  in  the  position  of  the  Capuchin  lay  brother,  who  found  the 
basket  in  which  he  collected  his  cpiest  too  heavy,  and  to  lighten  the 
burden  threw  away  a piece  of  gold.  He  was  surrounded  by  gifts 
and  offerings,  and  had  received  so  much  gold  from  the  Spanish  pil- 
grims, that  he  feared  his  shoulders  were  not  strong  enough  to  carry 
it.  Their  charity  was  industrious  in  giving,  and  his  charity  must 
be  industrious  in  distributing.  This  was  the  second  pilgrimage 
from  Spain,  and  that  of  last  year  had  inspired  Spaniards  with  a 
desire  to  visit  him  again.  He  was  glad  also  that  their  pilgrimage 
was  headed  by  such  a large  number  of  their  bishops.  The  revolu- 
tion might  perceive  by  their  zeal  that  persecutions  and  imprison- 
ment would  not  diminish  the  grandeur  of  Catholicism.  The  Pope 
then  referred  to  the  meeting  of  Jacob  with  Esau,  and  to  the  fervent 
and  sublime  prayer  offered  to  God  by  Jacob,  who,  nevertheless,  did 
not  neglect  the  means  in  his  own  power  to  propitiate  his  brother,  but 
sent  on  beforehand  his  servants,  his  family,  and  his  presents,  and 


5o2 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


who  made  also  opportune  dispositions  for  defense.  Do  we,  asked 
his  Holiness,  wish  to  vanquish  the  Esau  of  the  modem  revolution  ? 
Let  us,  then,  offer  our  prayers  to  God,  and  organize  our  camps  iu 
Spain,  France,  Germany,  and  everywhere.  Let  us  offer  prayers  and 
arrange  our  cohorts,  united  and  concordant  in  religion  and  for  re- 
ligion. He  thanked  God,  who  had  preserved  among  the  Spaniards 
the  holy  traditions  of  their  forefathers.  To  preserve  them  in  vigor 
continually,  there  was  need  of  courage  and  perseverance  ; and  they 
should  avoid  jealousies,  and  those  impediments  to  progress  which 
jealousy  produced.  He  prayed  God  to  bless  them,  and  keep  them 
vigorous  soldiers  fighting  under  the  same  banner  and  the  same  cap- 
tain, inasmuch  as  they  were  under  God  himself.  The  benediction 
was  then  given. 

For  days  and  weeks  other  deputations  came  dropping  in.  But  on 
June  the  22d,  the  sovereign  pontiff  deemed  it  proper  to  pour  out 
his  soul  in  full  thanksgiving  in  presence  of  the  assembled  cardinals, 
in  order  that  his  answer  might  go  forth  to  the  Catholic  world  in 
return  for  this  unheard-of  manifestation  of  piety  and  reverence  to- 
ward the  Holy  See.  After  describing  to  the  venerable  audience  the 
extraordinary  spectacle  which  had  ravished  themselves  with  joy  and 
admiration,  the  Holy  Father  continues  : 

But  who  is  it.  Venerable  Brethren,  that  hath  turned  the  days  of 
our  tribulation  into  the  practice  and  the  shining  out  of  great  virtues 
like  these,  who  is  it  that  hath  nurtured  and  brought  to  maturity 
great  faith  and  piety  like  these,  who  is  it  that  hath  vouchsafed  to 
our  weakness  to  be  spectators  and  witnesses  of  such  illustrious  ex- 
amples given  by  the  Christian  people  ? It  is  the  Father  of  mercies 
and  the  God  of  all  consolation — who  is  wont  to  manifest  his  glory  all 
.the  more  wherever  the  poverty  and  wealmess  of  his  servants  is  great- 
est— in  whose  hands  are  the  hearts  of  men,  and  in  whose  power  are 
all  things.  He  hath  done  according  to  his  mercy,  he  hath  with  the 
temptation  made  issue,  that  we  might  be  able  to  bear  it ; he  unvailed 
his  glory  to  his  Church,  and  hath  shown  to  the  world,  that  the  more 
she  is  assailed  the  more  powerfully  does  she  exert  her  forces,  and  the 
more  she  is  depressed,  the  higher  she  is  exalted.  Therefore  we  can- 
not refrain  from  rendering  unto  God  most  merciful,  both  in  your 
sight  and  before  the  v/hole  world,  thanks  and  glory ; blessing  him, 
and  confessing  that  ‘ he  is  bountiful,  and  comforteth  in  the  day  of 
tribulation,  and  knoweth  them  that  hope  in  him,’  and  we  pray  him 
that  in  the  abundance  of  condescension  he  would  graciously  and 


The  ''Episcopal  Jubilee''  of  503 

propitiously  accept  the  sacrifice  of  our  prayer  and  benediction,  al- 
though it  fall  short  of  the  operations  of  his  mercy.’’ 

Thus  was  happily  brought  to  a close  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
events  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  Church — indeed,  of  the  history 
of  the  world.  Surely  the  Italian  government,  even  though  it  does 
not  believe  in  Catholicism,  must  be  convined  by  this  time  that  it  is 
a living  force,  as  mighty  in  the  moral  world  as  that  of  universal 
gravitation,  and  which  it  must  take  into  account  in  calculating  the 
results  of  its  present  unjustifiable  aggression  on  the  rights  of  all 
Italian  Catholics,  indeed,  of  the  two  hundred  millions  of  Catholics 
which  acknowledge  the  Pope  as  supreme  spiritual  teacher  and  guide. 

Were  it  not  good  policy  in  the  Italian  parliament  to  pause  in  its 
process  of  suppression  and  odious  ‘^inquisitiveness,”  and  show  a 
little  reverence  toward  the  prisoner  of  the  Vatican,  and  some  decent 
regard  for  the  good  opinion  of  mankind  in  general,  and  of  Catholic 
humanity  in  particular  ? 

Would  it  not  be  showing  something  of  that  love  of  high  principle 
and  of  all  that  is  truly  and  healthfully  conservative  in  the  social  life 
and  moral  character  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  if  the  two  great  gov- 
ernments which,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  are  still  the  lovers  of 
the  old  Catholic  freedom,  should  have  something  to  say  in  favor  of 
the  most  venerable  and  august  of  all  authorities,  uselessly,  brutally, 
unjustifiably  oppressed  in  the  Vatican  ? 

If  there  were  no  other  reason  for  uniting,  just  at  present,  than 
that  of  making  friendly  but  firm  remonstrance  in  favor  of  the  rights 
of  so  many  millions  of  their  Catholic  citizens,  it  would  be  a blessed 
combination. 

England  has  been  humiliated  in  her  natural  ally,  France.  God  for- 
bid that  the  war  now  raging  should  bring  on  further  humiliation  and 
-abasement ! And  God  also  forbid  that  England  or  America  should 
adopt  as  theirs  the  godless,  hypocritical,  revolutionary  principles  of 
interMational  policy  introduced  by  Palmerston  and  Napoleon  III., 
put  in  practice  by  Cavour  and  Bismark  and  Gortchakoft ! 

The  Christian  world,  the  moral  world,  cannot  afford  to  see  France 
or  England  or  the  United  States,  or  all  three  together,  overshadowed 
or  oj)pressed  by  the  triple  and  unholy  alliance  of  Prussia,  Kussia, 
and  Piedmont. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  and  should  the  life  we  have  been  sketching  in 
these  pages  come  to  a close  to-morrow,  the  spectacle  which  Rome 
has  oifcred  since  last  April  will  teach  ourselves  at  least  -a  lesson 


5o4 


Life  of  Pope  Piics  IX. 


whicli  we  are  resolved  to  lay  to  heart.  The  Catholic  manhood  of 
to-day  is  not,  in  non-Catholic  lands,  the  timid,  crouching,  lisping 
thing  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  We  have  learned  to  come  together,  and 
to  count  our  numbers  ; we  have  learned  to  know  what  to  aim  at, 
and  how  to  reach  our  aim.  And  we  are  not  likely  to  forget  our  les- 
son, or  to  become  inexpert  by  want  of  steady  practice. 

We  shall  pursue  the  sovereign  independence  of  the  Iloly  See, 
without  violence,  or  bluster,  or  blunder  of  any  kind,  till  it  come  of 
itself,  as  surely  as  the  ripe  fruit  in  autumn  drops  from  the  tree,  by 
its  own  weight,  into  the  hand  of  the  husbandman. 

This  husbandry,  with  much  other  precious  knowledge,  the  Cath- 
olic world  has  learned  during  the  long  trials  of  Pius  IX. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 


Joys  and  Sorrows  crowning  the  Year  of  Jubilee — Death 
OF  THE  Persecutor  and  the  Persecuted — Pius  IX.  at 
Rest. 

Most  grateful  to  the  heart  of  the  common  parent  as  were  all 
these  demonstrations  of  love  and  generosity,  they  were  also 
accompanied,  through  the  summer  and  autumn,  by  other  events 
scarcely  less  consolatory.  In  France  the  three  Catholic  universities 
of  Paris,  Lille,  and  Angers  were  inaugurated  with  the  sanction  of 
the  Holy  See,  and  amid  flattering  prospects  of  success.  To  be  sure, 
there  was  a determined  opposition  made  by  the  army  of  professors 
belonging  to  the  gigantic  Voltairian  monopoly  which,  during  almost 
a century,  had  controlled  the  education  of  the  French  youth  ; and 
the  radical  majority  in  the  legislative  assembly  manifested  a fierce 
determination  to  repeal  the  law  under  which  the  new  universities 
had  arisen,  or  to  throw  insuperable  obstacles  in  their  path.  They 
began  their  labors  courageously,  nevertheless,  like  ships  half-rigged 
and  manned  putting  to  sea  in  the  face  of  a threatening  storm,  and 
trusting  for  safety  to  the  brave  hearts  within  them  and  to  His  pro- 
tection who  rules  the  winds  and  waves. 

In  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  the  elite  of  the  Catholic  population 
were  unitedly  working,  under  the  direction  of  Cardinals  Manning 
and  Cullen,  to  secure  perfect  freedom  for  the  education  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  laboring  classes,  a full  share  in  the  advantages  of  uni- 
versity education,  as  well  as  a most  efiicient  body  of  well-trained 
teachers  and  professors  of  acknowledged  superiority.  The  Holy 
Father,  whose  eye  watched  with  a special  anxiety  the  advance  of 
Catholic  interests  throughout  the  British  Empire,  could  safely 
flatter  himself  with  the  prospect  of  soon  beholding  in  London  as 
well  as  in  Dublin  the  rising  Catholic  universities  formally  acknowl- 
edged by  the  government,  and  rivaling  in  excellence  and  fame  the 
ancient  reputation  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  In  Scotland  also, 

505 


5o6 


Life  of  Pope  Puts  IX, 


where  so  many  of  the  first  nobility  and  gentry  were  giving  their 
adhesion  to  the  faith  of  St.  Columkille  and  St.  Margaret,  tlierc  was 
an  ardently  expressed  wish  for  the  restoration  of  the  Catholic  hier- 
archy. The  hope  held  out  by  the  Holy  Father  in  his  answer  to  the 
Scottish  pilgrims*  became  a certainty  ere  December  had  closed. 
Kegotiations  were  said  to  have  been  entered  into  with  the  British 
Government ; the  assent  of  the  Queen  obtained  ; and  the  land  of 
Malcolm  Canmore  and  St.  David  rejoiced  that  its  ancient  epis- 
copal sees  were  about  to  be  restored.  A quarter  of  a century 
had  elapsed  since  Earl  Russell’s  abortive  attempt  at  getting  up  a 
persecution  of  the  Catholics  ; the  Queen  and  the  statesmen  who 
had,  during  that  interval,  successively  administered  the  govern- 
ment, had  become  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  restoration  of  the 
hierarchy  in  England  and  Wales,  was  a political  benefit  and  a social 
blessing.  The  prodigious  activity  of  which  every  one  of  the  new 
sees  became  the  center,  only  contributed  to  make  of  the  hitherto 
sparse  and  neglected  Catholic  flock,  moral,  enlightened,  and  loyal 
citizens,  attached  to  the  Crown  by  the  double  tie  of  conscientious 
duty  and  of  sincere  gratitude  for  the  full  religious  liberty  enjoyed. 
So  will  it  be  in  Scotland : .a  quarter  of  a century  will  suffice  to 
convince  even  the  most  bigoted  upholders  of  Establishment  or  Free 
Kirk  alike  that  the  spiritual  renovation  which  is  sure  to  follow  on 
this  last  pontifical  act  of  Pius  IX.,  and  the  consequent  increase  in 
the  number  of  fervent  Christians,  are  a most  seasonable  accession 
of  strength  to  the  cause  of  Revealed  Religion,  assailed  by  the  fol- 
lowers of  Tyndall  and  Huxley.  So  far,  however,  the  fanatical 
opposition  of  the  Kirk  bids  fair  to  delay  the  fulfillment  of  the 
Papal  purpose. 

Nor  was  this  movement  of  bishops,  priests,  and  laymen  toward 
an  unmixed  and  thorough  Catholic  education  for  every  child  of 
the  Church,  whether  born  in  poverty  or  in  affluence,  confined  to 
France,  and  to  the  British  Empire,  with  its  vast  colonies ; it  was 
felt  in  the  United  States,  it  extended  through  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, and  Austria-Hungary,  as  we  shall  see  presently. 

There  was  another  consolation  given  to  Pius  IX.,  which  came 
from  the  two  great  powers  now  involved  in  mortal  conflict  on  both 
sides  of  the  Balkans,  as  well  as  among  the  historic  valleys  and 
w^ater-courses  having  their  center  at  Mount  Ararat.  To  the  aggres- 


* Page  496. 


The  Pontiff's  Joys — Co?igress  of  Bergamo.  So/ 

give  and  persecuting  attitude  assumed  by  the  Ottoman  Emperor  to- 
'v'ard  the  Holy  See,  at  the  time  of  the  assembling  of  the  Council  of 
the  Vatican,  succeeded  one  of  entire  friendliness  and  conciliation, 
when  it  became  apparent  to  the  Porte,  that  the  infallibility  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff’s  teaching  office  meant  no  infringement  on  the 
rights  and  prerogatives  of  temporal  sovereigns. 

It  so  happened,  also,  that  in  the  very  first  days  of  June,  the  Eus- 
sian  representative  in  Home  laid  before  his  Holiness,  together  with 
the  compliments  and  congratulations  of  his  imperial  master,  the  out- 
lines of  a plan  for  adjusting  all  difficulties  between  the  Vatican  and 
St.  Petersburg.  Whatever  there  may  have  been,  either  of  sincerity 
or  mere  policy,  in  this  step,  the  Holy  Father  was  not  to  be  blinded 
by  fair  promises  of  concession  from  a power  that  had  so  ruthlessly 
violated  its  most  solemn  engagements,  and  trampled  under  foot  the 
most  sacred  laws  of  conscience  and  humanity.  It  was  but  too 
apparent  that  Eussia  was  anxious  not  to  array  against  herself,  in 
the  campaign  about  to  begin  in  Bulgaria  and  Eoumelia,  the  Catholic 
subjects  of  the  Porte.  Still,  the  Holy  Father,  ever  desirous  to  con- 
ciliate, where  conciliation  is  possible  without  the  sacrifice  of  truth 
or  justice,  referred  the  matter  to  his  Secretary  of  State,  Cardinal 
Simeon i,  who,  while  accepting  the  proffered  concessions,  declared 
that  the  Holy  See  can  never  cease  to  protest  against  the  sacrilegious 
inhumanity  practiced  against  Eussian  Catholics,  till  the  imperial 
government  removes  all  cause  of  complaint. 

Of  all  the  deep  joys  with  which  Providence  gladdened  the  last 
days  of  the  venerable  pontiff,  none — not  even  the  devout  multi- 
tudes which  continued,  throughout  the  months  of  May  and  June, 
to  throng  every  avenue  to  the  Vatican — were  so  welcome,  or  so 
cheering  to  his  wearied  spirit,  as  the  Catholic  Congresses  of  Bergamo 
and  Wiirzburg. 

The  Congress  of  Bergamo,  the  fourth  of  the  kind  in  Italy,  was 
opened  in  the  city  of  Tasso,  on  the  10th  day  of  October.  The  third 
congress  had  been  appointed  to  meet  at  Bologna,  in  1876  ; as,  how- 
ever, the  authorities  looked  upon  the  meeting,  its  members  and 
purposes,  with  anything  but  favor,  it  was  not  difficult  to  find,  in  a 
city  of  extremes,  like  Bologna,  rascals  enough  to  undertake  to  pre- 
vent its  opening,  and  local  magistrates  all  too  willing  to  connive  at 
the  lawless  violence  offered  to  peaceful  men.  So,  to  the  intense 
mortification  of  the  Bolognese,  the  veteran  pupils  of  Gavazzi  had 
it  all  their  own  way ; and  the  members  of  the  congress,  to  avoid 


5o8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


the  scandal  of  an  open  collision  with  these  cut-throats,  deemed  it 
more  prudent  to  disperse. 

It  was  feared  that  similar  acts  of  unrestrained  violence  might  at- 
tend the  opening  of  the  fourth  congress  at  Bergamo ; and  numer- 
ous deputations,  in  consequence,  did  not  venture  to  set  out  for  the 
beautiful  old  Lombardic  city.  Nevertheless,  when,  on  the  morning 
of  the  10th,  the  noble  men,  who  had  braved  every  threat  to  do  their 
duty  by  Catholic  Italy  in  the  hour  of  her  sore  need,  met  together  at 
the  Mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  upward  of  four  hundred  deputies  were 
counted.  The  sessions  w’erc  held  in  the  large  hall  of  the  diocesan 
seminary.  Temporary  tribunes  were  erected  for  ladies  and  strangers  ; 
the  venerable  Bishop  of  Bergamo,  Pietro  Speranza,  in  spite  of  his 
seventy-six  years,  opened  the  first  session  by  intoning  the  Veniy 
Creator  SjoirituSy  which  the  hundreds  of  manly  voices  took  up  and 
sent  floating  in  a mass  of  divine  harmony  over  the  mountain-side 
to  the  LoAver  Town,  or  Borgo,  far  beneath.  As  in  Venice,  where 
the  flrst  congress  met,  so  here,  everything  in  the  magnifleent 
scenery  above  them,  around,  and  beneath,  in  the  vast  and  seem- 
ingly boundless  plain  of  Lombardy,  lifted  the  soul  to  God  ; and,  in 
the  splendid  works  of  art  wdth  Avhich  the  ancient  city  is  filled,  in 
the  glorious  Catholic  memories  which  its  every  monument  calls  up, 
there  w^as  a mighty  and  exhaustless  theme  for  the  Christians  and 
patriots  assembled  there  to  consult  about  the  dearest  interests  of 
Italy. 

The  coadjutor-bishop  next  thrilled  his  hearers  by  a brief  and  stir- 
ring address,  which  was  heartily  applauded,  and  then,  in  the  absence 
of  the  president,  Duke  Salviati,  kept  at  home  by  a heavy  family  afflic- 
tion, Baron  d’Ondes-Reggio,  one  of  the  vice-presidents,  called  the 
meeting  to  order.  Our  old  acquaintance,  Commendatore  Giovanni 
Acquaderni  of  Bologna,  the  president  of  the  permanent  committee 
and  the  soul  of  every  great  religious  movement  in  Italy,  read  his 
formal  protest  against  the  illegal  violence  done  to  them  at  Bologna 
a year  before  ; gave  a rapid  sketch  of  the  work  done  in  Italy  by  the 
preceding  congresses ; insisted  upon  the  many  reasons  which  all 
Italian  Catholics  had  for  cherishing  unity  of  faith  and  feeling,  and 
cordial  co-operation;  denounced  as  deceptive  and  visionary  the  hopes 
of  those  who  sought  to  reconcile  the  Church  wdth  the  Revolution  ; 
and  exhorted  liis  hearers. to  persevere  in  prayer  and  zeal  in  the 
performance  of  every  good  work. 

The  labor  which  the  members  have  set  themselves  to  achieve  is 


How  Catholic  Me7t  Labor  in  Italy.  5o9 

divided  between  five  sections : the  first,  on  religions  works  and  asso- 
ciations— the  second,  on  works  of  charity — the  third,  on  instruction 
and  education — the  fourth,  on  the  press — and  the  fifth,  on  Chris- 
tian Art. 

When  one  examines  in  detail  the  various  objects  contemplated  by 
each  section,  and  reads  in  the  sectional  reports  of  the  admirable  zeal 
and  wisdom  with  Avhich  these  objects  are  pursued,  one  can  well  un- 
derstand the  immense  consolation  afforded  to  the  Holy  Father  by  the 
combined  efforts  of  these  noble  men  and  their  numerous  associates 
throughout  Italy.  Thus,  to  give  some  faint  idea  both  of  what  each 
section  purposes  and  effects,  the  gentlemen  whose  labors  are  classed 
under  the  first  heading,  beside  conveying  by  word  and  writing  all 
manner  of  information  upon  the  works  embraced  and  accomplished 
by  former  congresses,  furnish  also  ample  statistics  about  every  kind 
of  organization  created  by  the  zeal  of  themselves  and  fellow-mem- 
bers,  about  pilgrimages,  and  other  public  manifestations  of  local 
faith  and  piety  ; upon  the  success  attendant  on  their  efforts  for  sanc- 
tifying the  Sundays  and  Holy-Days  ; the  sodalities  or  unions  aim- 
ing at  the  repression  of  blasphemy,  or  other  forms  of  public  immo- 
rality ; of  facilitating,  for  children  and  adults,  the  reception  of  the 
sacraments  ; the  formation  of  Sunday-school  and  Christian  Doctrine 
Societies ; the  aid  furnished  to  poor  churches,  to  needy  and  aged 
clergymen,  to  priests,  young  seminarians  threatened  with  conscrip- 
tion ; the  establishment  of  funds  for  protecting  Catholic  interests 
before  the  courts  of  law,  and  for  promoting  a healthful  and  discrimi- 
nating use  of  the  right  of  suffrage. 

The  second  section  embraces  works  of  private  and  public  charity 
under  every  imaginable  form.  In  this  respect  Italy  had  nothing  to 
learn  from  abroad.  Charity  and  Mercy,  in  every  conceivable  aspect, 
had,  for  long  ages,  found  the  population  of  city  and  country,  every 
rank  and  class,  organized  and  disciplined  for  the  purpose  of  succoring 
human  distress,  whether  of  body  or  spirit.  The  present  work  of 
Catholic  congresses  consists  in  reviving  and  increasing  this  godlike 
spirit  of  practical  brotherly  love,  so  as  to  make  it  ubiquitous  and 
efficacious  in  meeting  the  terrible  necessities  created  by  the  anni- 
hilation of  so  many  time-honored  institutions  of  beneficence  all  ov’er 
the  land,  by  the  increasing  proselytism  of  the  secret  societies,  as 
well  as  by  the  undisguised,  anti-Christian,  and  leveling  spirit  of  the 
legislature  and  the  government. 

The  very  multitude  of  good  works  here  undertaken  and  carried 


5io 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


on  by  the  congress,  and  the  eminently  wise  and  practical  spirit  dis- 
played in  its  manifold  operation — are  in  themselves  a most  instruc- 
tive study. 

And  yet,  what  is  done  by  the  section  on  “ Instruction  and  Edu- 
cation,” is  still  more  wonderful.  There  is  a special  and  power- 
ful organization  formed  for  defending  and  securing  the  freedom  of 
Catholic  teachers  in  imparting  a thoroughly  Christian  education. 
It  bears  the  significant  name  of  ‘‘The  Daniel  O’Connell  League.” 
'J'he  detailed  programme  of  this  section  and  of  the  two  last,  on  “The 
Press  ” and  “ Christian  Art,”  are  well  worthy  of  the  attentive  study 
of  all  earnest  men. 

After  thrilling  discourses  from  Monsignor  Valsecchi,  Coadjutor- 
Bishop  of  Bergamo,  Baron  Vito  d’Ondes-Reggio,  the  president,  reit- 
erated his  Catholic  profession  of  faith,  uttered  in  the  Catholic  Con- 
gress of  Venice  he  believed  in  his  heart,  as  he  professed  with  his 
lips,  whatever  the  successor  of  Peter  taught ; he  was  one  in  faith 
with  the  Pope  and  the  Syllabus.  He  could  not  think  of  any  com- 
promise or  conciliation  with  revolution  and  unbelief. 

Then,  while  the  assembly  was  warm  with  the  emotion  produced 
by  his  eloquence,  a brief  was  read  from  the  Holy  Father,  dated  from 
the  24th  of  September,  approving,  commending,  and  encouraging 
the  labors  of  the  congress. 

“More  than  once,”  the  Holy  Father  says,  “we  have  had  to  speak 
with  commendation  of  the  zeal  which  impels  you  to  come  together 
to  contribute  your  aid,  your  advice  and  co-operation,  toward  guard- 
ing and  promoting  Catholic  interests  ; in  the  present  instance  we 
deem  your  devotion  to  your  work  to  be  deserving  of  still  higher 
praise,  seeing  that  the  increasing  dangers  of  our  holy  religion  compel 
you  to  extend  the  field  of  your  labors,  and  that  twofold  difficulty 
and  toil  are  thrown  in  your  path  by  the  inexcusable  interruption  of 
your  labors  last  year  in  Bologna. 

“The  indignities  then  put  upon  3^ou  have  not,  however,  pre- 
vented you  from  showing  greater  vigor  since  then,  and  putting  forth 
greater  alacrity  in  prosecuting  your  labors,  rejoicing,  as  3’ou  did, 
that  you  also  were  deemed  worthy  of  enduring  contumely  for  the 
name  of  Jesus.  We  congratulate  you  on  this  Christian  spirit, 
which  will  enable  you,  while  assembled  in  Bergamo,  to  face  the 
additional  toil  rendered  necessary  both  by  the  interruption  of  the 


* See  page  482. 


What  Catholics  do  for  Working  Men.  5i  i 

last  congress,  and  by  the  constantly  growing  evils  of  the  present 
year. 

“We  feel  assured  that  the  circumstances  which  add  to  your  toil 
and  to  the  difficulty  of  your  deliberations,  will  prove  no  slight 
inducement  to  greater  zeal  and  prudence,  to  the  attainment  of  that 
perfect  unanimity  without  which  your  strength  must  be  unequal  to 
the  necessities  pressing  upon  you,  to  an  increase  of  energy  in  pro- 
moting these  Catholic  assemblages,  wdiose  frequency  and  activity 
should  be  proportionate  to  the  growing  misery  of  our  social  con- 
dition, and,  finally,  to  kindle  a like  fervor  among  all  Catholics,  in 
order  that  every  Christian  man,  looking  upon  the  interests  of  the 
Church  as  his  own,  shall  devote  his  best  efforts,  in  union  with  his 
brethren,  to  forwarding  the  welfare  of  the  entire  body. 

“ The  firmness  you  have  shown  under  insult  and  ill-treatment, 
endured  for  the  cause  of  righteousness,  will,  we  trust,  bring  down 
on  you  the  blessing  of  Heaven.  We  confidently  believe  that  God 
will  enlighten  you,  and  enable  you  to  steer  a safe  course  amid  the 
difficulties  which  beset  you,  and  thereby  to  bring  your  undertaking 
to  a prosperous  issue.  These  blessings  we  implore  for  you  and  for 
all  the  members  of  the  congress.  ...” 

A vote  of  thanks  to  the  Holy  Father  was  passed  by  acclamation, 
and  transmitted,  by  telegraph,  to  the  Vatican. 

The  sessions  on  the  11th  of  October  were  mainly  taken  up  by 
reports  and  discussions  relating  to  Catholic  journalism  in  Italy,  to 
local  organizations  purposing  to  furnish  to  the  Catholic  press  full 
and  accurate  information  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  trade,  agri- 
culture, administration,  economy,  science,  and  literature ; to  the 
qualifications  to  be  demanded  of  all  candidates  for  public  office ; 
and  to  an  exposition  of  the  results  which  Masonic  societies  have  had 
on  the  social,  religious,  and  political  condition  of  Italy. 

The  session  of  the  12th  was  rendered  memorable  by  the  reading  of 
an  admirable  paper  of  Marchese  Sassoli  on  associations  of  working- 
men. After  establishing  the  imperious  necessity  to  which  laboring 
men  are  driven  to  find,  outside  of  their  family  circle,  some  addi- 
tional means  of  support,  the  author  showed  the  danger  of  allowing 
such  supplementary  aid  to  be  derived  from  the  socialistic  and  irreli- 
gious societies,  of  the  age.  He  sketched  in  a masterly  way  the  con- 
dition of  the  working  classes  under  Borne  pagan,  regal,  republican, 
and  imperial,  demonstrated  the  beneficial  action  of  the  Church 
under  the  barbarian  rule  and  under  feudalism,  as  well  as  the  salu- 


5i2 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


tary  influence  which  she  was  permitted  to  exercise  on  the  numerous 
guilds  of  tradesmen  and  other  professions  down  to  the  French  Rev- 
olution,  which  threw  the  workman  on  his  own  single  resources. 
The  great  industrial  families  created  and  protected  by  the  Church 
were  broken  up.  Later,  machinery  took  the  place  of  human  arms 
and  skilled  labor;  and  the  workman,  thus  compelled  to  be  idle  and 
to  starve,  was  induced  to  believe  that  his  misery  arose  from  society 
itself,  and  from  religion,  which  sanctions  and  protects  society.  The 
Marchese  recommended  Catholic  publicists  to  study  the  history  of 
the  ancient  guilds  and  brotherhoods,  with  the  aim  of  organizing 
on  their  model  similar  associations  for  our  laboring  classes. 

On  the  13th,  members  from  every  one  of  the  sections  laid  before 
the  congress  practical  plans  regarding  the  advancement  of  the  great 
social  and  religious  interests  with  which  each  was  concerned  : — for 
the  promotion  of  Catholic  education;  for  providing  the  poor  labor- 
ing classes  with  habitations  in  which  home-life,  morality,  and  health 
would  be  secured ; for  diminishing  the  hardshijDS  to  which  women 
and  children  are  exposed  in  factories ; for  securing  them  religious 
instruction  ; for  repressing  intemperance  and  blasphemy ; for  pre- 
venting the  spread  among  Catholics  of  revolutionary  and  impious 
publications ; for  protecting  Catholics  from  the  calumnious  attacks 
of  the  radical  press  ; for  enabling  Catholic  journalists  to  associate 
and  sustain  each  other.  Then  came  reports  and  suggestions  upon 
sacred  music,  and  the  cultivation  of  the  kindred  arts  of  design  and 
architecture ; and  the  conservation  of  Catholic  cemeteries.  No  in- 
terest bearing  on  the  liberties  or  happiness  of  the  Christian,  within 
his  home  or  in  any  sphere  of  public  life,  escaped  the  watchful  eyes 
and  ardent  zeal  of  these  noblest  of  the  noble  sons  of  Italy.  The 
Catholic  press  of  France,  Austria,  Germany,  and  Belgium  was  well 
represented  at  the  congress,  and  its  representatives  treated  with 
all  honor  and  hospitality.  One  of  the  last  resolutions  was  to  the 
effect  that  St.  Francis  of  Sales  should  be  declared  the  Protector 
of  Journalists,  and  that  the  Holy  See  should  be  petitioned  to  this 
effect. 

Baron  d'Ondes-Reggio,  in  his  concluding  address,  dwelt  upon 
the  baneful  consequences  of  mixing  up  with  religion  the  liberalism 
which  prevailed  in  political  opinion.  On  the  Sunday  immediately 
following,  the  members  assisted  in  a body  at  High  Mass  in  the  Ca- 
thedral of  Bergamo,  most  of  them  receiving  the  Holy  Communion. 

The  report  of  these  proceedings  filled  the  Holy  Father  with  un- 


Catholic  Co  fig  r ess  of  Wurzburg.  5 1 3 

speakable  satisfaction,  coming,  as  they  did,  so  soon  after  a similar  re- 
port from  the  twenty-fifth  Catholic  Congress  of  Germany,  which  had 
been  opened  at  Wurzburg,  the  ancient  capital  of  Franconia,  on  the 
morning  of  September  the  10th.  The  comfort  brought  to  the  soul 
of  the  weary  sufferer  in  the  Vatican  was  also  most  welcome  and 
most  timely,  in  view  of  the  spiritual  desolation  of  the  Church  of 
Germany,  and  of  the  daily  increasing  hostility  toward  religion  of 
the  Italian  ministry. 

As  most  of  the  members  of  the  German  Congress  had  reached 
Wurzburg  on  Sunday,  the  9th  September,  an  informal  meeting 
was  held  that  evening,  under  the  auspices  of  the  local  committee. 
Among  the  distinguished  men  present — distinguished  as  foremost 
among  the  confessors  of  the  faith  in  these  evil  days  of  the  Church 
of  Germany — were  Prince  zu  Lbwenstein,  Prince  von  Isenburg, 
pre-eminent  among  his  generous  peers,  August  Keichensperger,  and 
Doctor  Hergenrother,  whose  pen  is  rendering  such  glorious  service 
to  the  cause  of  Catholic  truth. 

As  these  noble  men  looked  upon  each  other,  all  instinctively  felt 
the  void  left  by  one  who  had  ever  been  the  soul  of  former  assem- 
blages, the  illustrious  Bishop  of  Mayence,  Wilhelm  Emmanuel 
von  Ketteler,  deceased  on  the  preceding  17th  of  July.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Munich,  Gregory  von  Scherr,  who  had  fought  the  good 
fight  against  the  combined  ranks  of  liberalism  and  the  Dbllinger 
secessionists,  was  also  lying  at  death’s  door,  while,  as  one  of  the 
speakers  touchingly  remarked,  the  churches  of  Germany,  all  along 
the  Ehine  valley  from  Constance  to  Eotterdam,  had  not  a single 
bishop  left;  every  one  of  them  had  been  removed  by  death  or  by  the 
merciless  hand  of  imperial  injustice  ! 

Nevertheless,  when,  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  September  the 
10th,  the  members  of  the  congress  knelt  before  the  high  altar  of  the 
cathedral,  at  which  the  Archbishop  of  Bamberg  was  celebrating 
solemn  pontifical  mass,  there  was  no  heart  among  them  that  did 
not  feel  assured,  that  the  present  season  of  persecution  would  be 
followed  soon  by  a peace  as  fruitful  in  great  blessings  to  religion, 
as  the  present  prospect  was  dark,  and  the  policy  of  the  persecutor 
unscrupulous  and  unsparing. 

In  the  first  private  session  Baron  Felix  von  Loe  was  chosen  pres- 
ident. There  were  six  sections — on  Science  and  the  Press,  on 
Schools  and  Education,  on  Charity,  on  Social  Questions,  on  Missions, 
and  on  Ecclesiastical  Art.  The  Archbishop  of  Bamberg,  on  whoso 
33 


5i4 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


earnestness  in  the  good  cause  some  shadow  of  doubt  had  rested  till 
then,  came  forward  at  the  end  of  this  first  session,  and  warmly  ex- 
horted the  members  to  unity  of  aim,  harmony  of  feeling,  and  cor- 
dial co-operation  in  their  most  praiseworthy  labors.  There  was 
held  in  the  afternoon  a second  private  session  ; and  late  in  the 
evening  the  first  public  session  was  numerously  attended.  Baron 
von  Loe  recounted  the  labors  in  Germany  of  the  preceding  con- 
gresses since  1849  ; the  reporters  from  the  sections  laid  before  the 
meeting  most  interesting  information  on  schools  and  religious  or- 
ganizations ; and  Dr.  Ilergenrother  discoursed  on  ‘‘Conscience,” 
showing  in  what  consists  true  liberty  of  conscience,  and  in  what 
the  violence  done  to  it.  At  night  the  Catholic  3^outh  of  the  city 
entertained  the  members  with  music  and  song. 

The  public  session  of  September  the  11th  was  taken  up  with  a 
report  on  the  condition  of  Christian  Art  in  Germany  ; a most  in- 
teresting discourse  from  a journeyman  currier  named  Schuster,  de- 
tailing the  advantages  resulting  from  the  ‘'•  Journeymen’s  Associa- 
tion,” organized  under  the  auspices  of  the  congress,  and  the  impos- 
sibility of  finding  a solution  to  the  question  of  Labor  and  Capital 
outside  of  the  Catholic  Church  ; an  address  relating  the  difficulties 
between  the  Prussian  Government  and  tlie  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
in  1837-38,  and  glancing,  in  every  sentence,  at  the  present  perse- 
cutions ; and,  finally,  a most  eloquent  sketch  of  the  life  and  labors 
of  Bishop  von  Ketteler. 

In  the  session  of  the  12th,  the  congress  received  the  report  of 
the  Society  of  St.  Paphael,  for  the  protection  of  emigrants,  setting 
forth  the  successful  establishment  at  Hamburg,  Bremen,  Havre, 
Liverpool,  and  London,  of  agencies  for  procuring  spiritual  and  ma- 
terial aid  to  emigrants.  The  society  sees  to  it  that  these  shall  have 
the  consolations  of  religion  on  their  voyage  across  the  ocean  ; that 
morality  shall  be  protected  by  the  separation  of  the  sexes  on  ship- 
board ; and  that  the  passengers  shall  be  otherwise  secure  against 
deception  and  oppression.  The  prime  mover  in  this  most  bene- 
ficial organization  is  Prince  Karl  von  Isenburg,  the  president  of  the 
St.  Paphael  Society.  AVould  that  a similar  association  existed  in 
the  British  Isles  ! 

On  the  13th,  the  labors  of  the  Congress  closed ; there  had  been 
eight  hundred  members  present  from  the  beginning,  and  this  num- 
ber was  further  increased,  during  its  meeting,  by  accessions  from 
the  most  distinguished  men  in  Germany.  The  enthusiastic  assem- 


The  “ Credo''  of  Catholic  Education, 


5i5 


blage  did  not,  however,  separate  before  they  bad  adopted  resolu- 
tions expressing  the  absolute  and  unshaken  fidelity  of  German 
Catholics  to  the  Holy  See,  their  deep  sorrow  at  the  enforced  widow- 
hood of  so  many  churches,  bereft  of  their  bishops  and  faithful 
priests,  and  their  admiration  for  the  heroic  constancy  shown  by 
the  German  clergy  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  conscience.  The 
chief  resolution  was  that  on  education.  The  conflict  on  the  school 
question,  on  popular  schools  especially,  they  declare  to  be  ‘‘the 
weightiest  question  of  the  present  time.”  They  proclaim  anew 
the  indefeasible  right  of  the  Church  and  of  all  Catholics  to  main- 
tain their  own  schools,  and  protest  in  the  name  of  all  parents, 
against  the  pretension  set  up  by  the  State  to  monopolize  the  right 
of  educating,  and  to  force  children  to  be  educated  in  tlie  State 
schools.  Catholics  cannot  approve  or  recognize  as  proper  religious 
instruction  teaching  on  religious  matter  given  by  State  professors, 
without  any  mission  from  the  Catholic  bishop  or  any  authorized 
supervision.  The  fourth  resolution  appeals  to  the  entire  body  of 
German  Catholics,  urging  them  to  yield  in  no  wise  to  the  schis- 
matic principles  and  anti-Christian  acts  of  the  civil  authorities,  but 
to  remain  firm  in  their  allegiance  to  the  Church  and  the  faith  of 
their  fathers. 

These  resolutions,  and  the  outspoken  spirit  of  faith  which  dic- 
tated them,  might  well  cheer  the  soul  of  the  pontiff,  for  they  de- 
clared unmistakably,  that,  although  Martin  Luther  had  found  an 
ambitious  successor  in  John  Joseph  Ignatius  von  Ddllinger,  it  was 
evident  to  all  that  Dellinger  never  would  have  a permanent  “follow- 
ing.” In  Germany,  as. well  as  in  Italy,  France,  and  Switzerland,  the 
corrupt  elements  which  follow  bad  men  in  their  rebellion  against 
the  Church  were  absolutely  wanting,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
age  are  not  such  as  favor  a religious  revolution.  The  “Old  Catholic  ” 
secession  in  Germany  will  give  heart  enough  to  a few  bad  priests  to 
become  bad  husbands  and  fathers  ; such  will  also  be  the  upshot  of 
the  movement  led  in  Italy  by  Achilli  and  Gavazzi.  But  neither  in 
the  one  country  or  the  other  can  the  persecuting  governments  afford 
to  reward  apostasy  by  a liberal  and  wide-spread  bestowal  of  wealth, 
honor,  and  ecclesiastical  position.  The  few  rotten  planks  which 
the  fury  of  the  wayes  may  loosen  from  the  tempest-tossed  bark  of 
the  Church,  will  float  around  on  the  surface  for  a time,  borne  back 
and  forth  by  wind  and  tide  ; but  people  already  see  that  the  loss 
of  these  puny  and  worthless  fragments  has  not  caused  a leak  in  a 
ship  fated  never  to  perish. 


5i6 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 


And  so  Pius  IX.,  in  the  flood  of  bitterness  which  continued  to 
pour  over  him,  might  well  rejoice  and  exult  at  the  glorious  tidings 
which  were  borne  to  him  from  Bergamo  and  Wurzburg. 

Truly  it  was  a flood  of  bitterness.  We  have  seen  whence  came 
liis  joy  ; let  us  now  glance  at  a few  of  the  causes  of  his  grief.  The 
deepest — not  only  because  it  touched  him  most  nearly,  but  because 
the  men  who  inflicted  the  suffering  were  animated  by  a spirit  that 
aimed  at  the  utter  abolition  not  only  of  the  papacy  but  of  Chris- 
tianity itself — lay  in  the  policy  and  measures  of  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment. 

AVe  have  seen,  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  chapter,  to  what  ex- 
tremities the  radical  ministers  of  Victor  Emmanuel  were  resolved  to 
have  recourse,  in  order  to  bend  to  their  will  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
and  the  body  of  the  Italian  episcopacy.  The  ruthless  hand  laid, 
day  after  day,  in  Kome  itself — by  the  governmental  commission 
called  Giunta  Liquidatrice  Board  of  Sales,”  because  ostensibly 
appointed  to  pay  off  the  public  debt),  but  which  was  only  a knot  of 
sacrilegious  thieves — on  church  after  church  and  convent  after  con- 
vent, attended,  too,  with  every  possible  circumsta’nce  of  outrage  to 
the  faith  of  the  Romans  themselves,  was  more  than  sufficient  to 
bring  the  white  hairs  of  the  almost  nonagenarian  pontiff  with  sor- 
row to  the  grave. 

Thanks  to  the  generous  alms  poured  into  the  pontifical  treasury  by 
the  charity  of  ihe  faithful  of  every  land,  the  Pope  found  himself 
able  to  relieve,  to  some  extent,  the  most  pressing  needs  of  the 
helpless  multitudes  of  religious  of  both  sexes,  despoiled  by  the 
Piedmontese  usurper,  and  then  cast  upon  the  world  to  starve. 
Even  Protestants  are  filled  with  equal  indignation  and  pity  by 
these  sufferings,  and  by  the  unblushing  iniquity  which  caused 
them. 

The  closing  of  so  many  convents,”  says  Hare,  ‘‘  and  the  robbery 
of  the  dowries  of  so  many  nuns  (given  on  their  entrance,  in  the  same 
sense  in  which  a marriage  portion  is  given),  has  not  only  been  an 
act  of  crying  injustice  in  itself,  which  even  the  strongest  Protestant 
must  feel,  but  while  it  has  flooded  the  streets  with  starving,  help- 
less, or  infirm  persons,  who  subsisted  on  the  daily  convent  dole  of 
coarse  bread  and  soup,  it  has  thrown  thousands,  of  helpless  ladies, 
who  believed  themselves  provided  for  during  their  lives  (and  by 
their  own  families)^  into  a state  of  utter  destitution,  for  the  relief 
of  which  the  miserable  and  irregularly-paid  pension  of  a few  pence 


The  Italian  Ministry  the  Apostles  of  hreligion,  5i/ 

a day,  appointed  by  the  government,  sounds  merely  like  a mock- 
ery/’* 

Bitter  as  must  be  to  a fatherly  heart  the  sight  of  such  manifold 
misery,  inflicted,  too,  on  the  suflerers  (as  the  persecutors  were  so  fond 
of  openly  asserting)  because  of  the  obstinacy  of  the  common  parent 
in  refusing  to  make  concessions  to  the  Revolution,  there  was  still 
greater  bitterness  in  the  steady  progress  of  the  Italian  Government 
and  legislation  toward  an  open  and  unrestricted  warfare  on  the 
Church,  and  on  every  means  by  which  she  trains  her  ministers, 
educates  her  children,  preaches  the  word  of  God,  and  administers 
the  sacraments  and  consolations  of  religion. 

The  men  who  were  the  counselors  of  Victor  Emmanuel — such  as 
Nicotera,  Mancini,  and  Depretis,  were  the  apostles  of  the  most  ex- 
treme anti-Christian  radicalism;  they  scarcely  concealed  their  pur- 
pose of  canceling  in  practice  the  dispositions  of  the  famous  Law 
of  Guarantees,”  which  professes  to  secure  the  sovereignty  and  abso- 
lute freedom  of  the  Pope  in  the  discharge  of  his  spiritual  office  ; 
nay,  they  encouraged  their  supporters  to  advocate  the  repeal  of  the 
law  itself. 

Throughout  the  summer  Signor  Mancini,  minister  of  grace  and 
worship,  busied  himself  in  preparing  a bill  for  reforming”  (!) 
the  Church  in  Italy.  Ostensibly  it  purposed  to  effect  a complete 
separation  of  the  State  from  the  Church  ; in  reality,  it  aims  at  an- 
nihilating every  single  feature  distinctive  of  the  Catholic  Church  as 
a divinely-constituted  hierarchy  deriving  its  mission  and  jurisdic- 
tion from  Christ  alone.  The  people,  under  the  protection  of  the 
civil  magistrate,  are  made  the  sole  supreme  arbiters  of  all  that  re- 
lates to  the  choice  of  their  ministers  of  every  degree,  to  the  regula- 
tion of  their  ritual,  and  the  management  of  all  religious  matters 
whatsoever.  Parochial  property  is  to  be  administered  by  parish 
councils,  elected  by  the  people,  and  dispensing  to  the  priests  chosen 
by  the  people  such  portion  of  the  revenue  as  they  may  judge  proper. 
Diocesan  councils  or  committees  will,  in  like  manner,  have  the  con- 
trol of  the  diocesan  revenues.  These  provincial  ecmncils  will  have 
the  right  to  veto  any  person  nominated  to  the  episcopal  office,  just 
as  the  parochial  committee  may  refuse  to  accept  any  person  appointed 
to  fulfill  parochial  duties  ; the  government  retaining  its  prerogative 
of  canceling  every  such  election  or  nomination.  The  law  will  main- 


Days  near  Rome,”  vol.  i.,  p.  14. 


5i8 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX, 

tain  the  decision  of  the  parish  boards.  All  religions  functions  per- 
formed outside  the  churches  are  subject  to  the  control  of  the  police. 
There  will  be  no  minister  of  public  worship. 

This  law  is  a bribe  held  out  to  the  masses,  who  are  thus  to  be 
won  over  to  the  usurping  government.  It  may  be  accepted  by  the 
ignorant,  the  depraved,  or  the  ambitious ; but  no  conscientious 
Catholic  can  or  will  accept  in  practice  a law  which  he  knows  to  be 
hostile  to  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  submission  which 
the  flock  owe  to  the  Shepherd  divinely  commissioned  to  feed 
them. 

Signor  Mancini,  who  takes  no  pains  to  conceal  his  hatred  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  ostentatiously  encourages  the  efforts  of  the  Prot- 
estant propagandists;  not  that  he  is  capable  of  any  religious  con- 
viction or  preference  whatever,  but  because  he  is  prepared  to  use 
Protestant  missionaries  as  his  most  efficient  instruments  in  decatho- 
licizing  the  Italian  people. 

Unfortunately  for  the  designs  of  the  Depretis-Nicotera  ministry, 
but  fortunately  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  the  President  of 
the  Italian  Chamber  of  Deputies,  Signor  Crispi,  discoursing  at  a 
public  banquet  in  Berlin,  declared  that  the  Italian  Government  and 
parliament  would  soon  relegate  the  Catholic  Church  to  the  Hell 
of  Dante.”  The  efforts  of  the  Italian  cabinet  to  reject  all  responsi- 
bility for  this  untimely  utterance  could  not  blind  the  public  opinion 
of  Christendom,  while  they  only  served  to  exasperate  the  radical 
wing  of  the  Italian  revolutionists.  During  the  month  of  November 
the  radical  papers  began  to  clamor  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Depretis 
ministry,  and  the  appointment  of  a new  and  more  courageous  cab- 
inet under  Signor  Crispi. 

Meanwhile,  every  toleration  or  encouragement  continued  to  be 
given  to  the  anti-Christian  journalists  of  the  Peninsula,  and  every 
measure  calculated  to  corrupt  public  morality  or  to  dishearten  the 
resistance  of  bishops  and  priests,  was  carried  out  by  the  government, 
the  prefects,  and  the  inferior  magistrates.  Al]  chaplaincies  in  the 
army  and  navy  had  already  been  suppressed;  then  the  chaplaincies 
in  the  universities  and  higher  schools  ; and  now,  in  virtue  of  a new 
law,  after  January,  1878,  all  religious  teaching  and  control  shall 
forever  eease  in  every  school  and  institution  under  the  direction  of 
government.  Moreover,  the  liberty  of  public  religious  processions, 
guaranteed  by  the  constitution  and  the  laws  on  the  freedom  of  pub- 
lic worship,  has  been  suppressed  by  order  of  the  minister,  in  spite  of 


The  Catholic  Church  to  be  Rooted  Out,  5 19 

the  repeated  decisions  to  the  contrary  of  the  highest  tribunals  in 
the  kingdom. 

And,  to  give  still  more  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  tendencies 
of  the  ruling  party  in  the  legislature  and  the  administration,  be- 
neath the  eyes  of  the  Holy  Father  and  of  the  multitudes  of  pil- 
grims flocking  to  Rome  during  the  summer,  the  government  caused 
laborers  to  work  on  the  public  monuments  of  the  capital  during  the 
Sundays,  and  great  festivals.  This  desecration,  so  unheard-of  and 
uncalled-for  among  a Catholic  population,  was  but  trifling  in  com- 
parison with  the  profanation  of  which  the  government  commissaries 
were  guilty  in  carrying  out  the  orders  of  the  Giimta  Liquidatrice. 
Priests  were  seized  at  the  altar,  during  the  celebration  of  the  divine 
mysteries,  and  forced  away  with  every  circumstance  of  insult  and 
mockery;  the  worshipers  were  expelled  from  the  churches  during 
the  exposition  of  the  Most  Holy  Sacrament,  and  the  churches  locked 
up  by  the  brutal  officers.  The  most  scurrilous  and  abominable 
publications  concerning  the  person  of  the  Holy  Father  were  openly 
hawked  about  the  streets  of  Rome,  or,  when  seized  by  the  police, 
were  allowed  to  be  sold  freely,  as  if  the  unworthy  magistrates  wished 
by  this  temporary  seizure  to  give  a more  solemn  sanction  to  the 
vile  calumnies  uttered  by  their  tools. 

Worse  than  all  that,  a journal  entitled  UAteo,  The  Atheist,”  was 
allowed  to  appear  at  Leghorn,  while  another  called  V Anar cliia, 
“Anarchy,”  was  issued  at  Naples — the  one  advocating  the  most 
abject  materialism  and  ridiculing  the  most  sacred  beliefs  and  prac- 
tices, while  the  other  sapped  the  foundations  of  all  order  and  mo- 
rality, and  purported  to  be  the  only  true  and  consistent  advocate  of 
the  aims  and  opinions  of  liberal  Italy. 

Such  were-  a few  only  of  the  deep  and  fearful  shadows  cast  on  the 
land,  as  if  prophetic  of  coming  evils  immeasurably  surpassing  the 
present  ills  endured  by  Italy.  They  fell  with  a chill  on  the  heart 
of  the  Supreme  Pontiff ; he  had  seen  so  many  of  his  saddest  fore- 
bodings realized,  that  he  might  well,  as  the  evening  gloom  of  his 
long  life  was  fast  deepening,  tremble  for  the  faith  of  his  people  and 
the  freedom  of  the  Church ! 

Besides,  many  of  his  most  trusted  counselors  in  the  Sacred  College, 
and  many  of  the  stoutest  defenders  of  truth  and  justice  among 
the  episcopal  body  in  the  lands  where  persecution  prevailed,  were 
stricken  down  around  the  aged  Pope,  while  his  own  infirmities 
seemed  to  grow  apace.  The  illustrious  Wilhelm  Emmanuel  von  Ket- 


520 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


telcr,  Bishop  of  Mayence  (Mainz),  the  liglit  of  the  German  episco- 
pate, was  taken  away  suddenly  on  the  17th  of  July.  lie  had  gone 
to  Rome  to  bear  in  person  to  the  Holy  Father  the  filial  homage  of 
his  people,  and  his  own.  In  the  titled  throng  of  German  pilgrims, 
who  on  the  17th  of  May  surrounded  Pius  IX.  with  the  demonstra- 
tions of  a love  so  enthusiastic  and  so  deeply  grateful  to  its  august 
object.  Bishop  von  Ketteler  was  the  most  conspicuous.  For  he  was 
‘Hlie  combatant  bishop, ’Hhe  representative  man  of  German  Catho- 
licity, the  worthy  successor  of  St.  Boniface,  foremost  with  voice  and 
pen  to  defend  the  Church  and  the  Holy  See,  more  noble  by  his  fear- 
less and  unceasing  denunciation  of  error  or  injustice,  than  by  his 
birth,  which  made  him  the  idol  of  the  German  nobility,  or  by  his 
See,  which  entitled  him  to  be  the  leader  of  his  brother  bishops. 

Educated  by  the  Jesuits,  while  they  were  compelled  to  find  for 
their  scholars  and  themselves  a free  asylum  at  Brieg  in  the  Valais, 
and  already  on  the  road  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  State,  the  young 
nobleman^  fired  by  the  persecution  of  the  then  Archbishop  of 
Cologne,  Von  Droste-Vischering,  threw  up  his  offices  in  1838,  and 
prepared  to  receive  holy  orders.  He  was  the  governing  mind  in  the 
first  Catholic  Congress  held  at  Mainz,  in  1848,  as  he  was  the  leader 
of  the  Catholic  party  in  the  Constituent  Assembly  held  at  Frank- 
fort in  the  same  year.  Pius  IX.,  while  still  at  Portici,  on  March  15, 
1850,  received  the  list  of  three  nominees  for  the  vacant  See  of  St. 
Boniface,  and  forthwith,  on  that  same  day  and  without  a momenPs 
hesitation,  appointed  the  young  chamj)ion  of  Catholicism  in  Ger- 
many to  be  tlie  successor  of  its  first  apostle.  Since  that  day,  the 
German  Church  spoke  to  the  world  by  the  lips  of  the  Bishop  of 
Mainz.  His  was  most  truly  an  apostolic  life,  creative  of  the  noblest 
ecclesiastical  institutions,  devoted — every  day  and  hour  of  it — to 
the  most  fatherly  care  of  every  parish  within  his  diocese,  of  every’ 
religious  interest  outside  of  his  diocese,  assailed  by  error  and  the 
overt  or  secret  machinations  of  worldly  politicians  or  ambitious 
churchmen. 

The  lying  organs  of  the  Old  Catholic  faction,  in  1869-70, 
made  extraordinary  efforts  to  represent  Von  Ketteler  as  opposed  to 
the  Pope  and  hostile  to  the  doctrine  of  infallibility ; whereas  the 
noble  prelate,  even  before  he  left  Mainz  for  the  Vatican  Council, 
had  published  an  eloquent  pamphlet,  in  which  he  maintained  the 
doctrine,  and  defended  its  divinity  against  the  objections  of  the 
Munich  school  of  theologians.  Ho  was  only  fearful,  from  the  atti- 


Death  Busy  among  the  Noblest  Men, 


521 


tude  of  the  Bavarian  and  other  governments,  that  the  discussion  of 
the  doctrine  in  the  approaching  council  might  lead  to  new  persecu- 
tions in  Germany  and  elsewhere.  Such  was  also  the  fear  entertained 
by  most  of  his  German  colleagues.  But  once  the  Church  had  given 
her  judgment  through  the  decision  of  the  majority  and  the  defini- 
tive sentence  of  the  Pope,  Von  Ketteler  was  among  the  first  to  re- 
nounce his  own  opinion  as  to  the  untimeliness  of  the  definition. 

Such  was  also,  substantially,  the  position  of  Gregory  von  Scherr, 
Archbishop  of  Munich,  who  was  gathered  to  his  rest  so  soon  after 
his  illustrious  friend,  but  not  before  he  had  the  consolation  of  be- 
holding Dr.  Dollinger  separating  himself  from  the  wretched  sect  he 
had  founded,  and  that  sect  itself  become  the  laughing-stock  of 
Germany  and  the  world. 

Nearer  home,  Pius  IX.  was  grieved  to  see  his  cardinals  taken 
away  from  him  one  after  the  other — his  trustiest  and  his  best 
beloved.  Of  the  men  who  had  been  raised  to  the  purple  by  his  pre- 
decessor only  a few  remained  ; of  those  he  had  himself  elevated  to 
this  supreme  eminence,  and  who  had  been  his  most  zealous  fellow- 
laborers  in  every  department  of  ecclesiastical  learning  and  adminis- 
tration, the  most  prized  were,  almost  weekly,  falling  around  him. 

One  of  the  most  cherished  and  honored  among  all  was  the  saintly 
and  courageous  Cardinal  Eiario-Sforza,  Archbishop  of  Naples,  who 
had  been  created  cardinal  in  1846,  and  was  called  to  his  reward  on 
September  the  29th,  worshiped  for  his  apostolic  virtues  by  the  whole 
of  Italy,  feared  and  reverenced  even  by  the  men  who  had  robbed, 
imprisoned,  and  banished  him,  but  who  could  find  in  that  perfect 
life  only  two  things  to  blame — incorruptible  fidelity  to  the  Church 
and  her  pontiff,  and  boundless  liberality  to  the  poor.  Riario-Sforza 
had  been  preceded  in  the  tomb  by  Cardinal  Filippo  de  Angelis, 
Archbishop  of  Fermo,  who  had  presided  at  the  Council  of  the  Vati- 
can, who  died  on  the  8th  of  July;  of  the  other  four  cardinals  who 
shared  with  him  the  honor  of  presiding  over  that  august  assembly, 
the  only  ones  who  survived  the  year  1877  were  Cardinals  Bilio  and 
De  Luca — Cardinals  Bizzari  and  Capalti  having  succumbed  during 
this  year  of  Jubilee.  The  loss  of  De  Angelis  was  most  keenly  felt 
by  the  Holy  Father.  They  were  both  natives  of  the  Marches,  born 
within  a month  of  each  other,  on  that  same  sunny  shore  of  the 
Adriatic  ; raised  to  the  purple,  the  one  in  1838,  the  other  in  1839  ; 
brought  still  nearer  to  each  other  by  their  passionate  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  the  unworldly  spirit  which  animated 


522 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


their  whole  lives.  During  the  conclave  of  June,  1846,  De  Angelis 
was  the  man  to  whom  Cardinal  Mastai  gave  his  vote,  and  Cardinal 
Mastai  was  the  choice  of  De  Angelis  for  the  dangerous  honor  of  tho 
pontificate.  While  the  one  friend  was  forced  to  seek  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples  the  liberty  needed  for  governing  the  universal 
Church,  the  other  was  assailed  by  the  revolutionists  in  his  residence 
at  Fermo,  dragged  like  a malefactor  to  the  prisons  of  Ancona,  and 
there,  during  forty  days,  subjected  to  the  most  horrible  brutality, 
attempts  having  even  been  made  to  destroy  his  life  by  poison.  Later, 
in  1860,  the  Cardinal- Archbishop  of  Fermo  was  once  more  carried 
off  to  prison — this  time  in  Turin — and  endured  a six  years’  cap- 
tivity. 

And  thus,  around  the  aged  pontiff,  were  dropping  off  day  by  day 
the  men  whom  he  had  most  loved  and  trusted,  who  had  passed  with 
him  through  the  flood  and  the  flame.  He,  with  three  or  four  mem- 
bers of  the  Sacred  College,  were  left  standing,  all  stripped  and 
scarred  by  storm  and  lightning — ^like  those  venerable  trees  of  the 
Californian  forest,  towering  on  the  hillside  in  their  weird  and  solitary 
grandeur,  while  at  their  feet  lie  the  fallen  trunks  of  their  former 
contemporaries,  and  around  stand  a younger  growth,  dwarfed  only 
into  comparative  inferiority  by  their  giant  elders — the  sole  sur- 
vivors of  a remote  age. 

Not  long,  however,  in  spite  of  the  fervent  prayers  of  the  Catholic 
world,  did  the  heroic  old  man  survive  the  friends  of  his  youth  and 
his  intrepid  associates  in  peril  and  persecution.  The  joys  which 
flooded  his  soul,  as  well  as  the  cruel  apprehensions  caused  by  the 
steady  triumph  of  extreme  and  undisguised  radicalism  in  the  Italian 
cabinet,  much  more  than  the  superhuman  fatigues  of  the  Jubilee 
receptions,  were  too  much  for  a man  in  his  eighty-sixth  year.  The 
Pope  had  condemned  himself,  since  September  the  20th,  1870,  to 
forego  his  long  and  healthful  walks  ; his  only  exercise  was  taken  in 
the  little  garden  which  he  was  permitted  to  retain  in  the  Vatican. 
This,  for  one  of  his  active  habits  and  robust  constitution,  together 
w’ith  the  necessity  of  standing  upright  for  so  many  hours  daily, 
while  receiving  the  crowds  which  never  ceased  to  ebb  and  flow 
around  the  Chair  of  Peter,  caused  a swelling  in  the  legs,  destined 
to  end  fatally. 

All  through  the  autumn  and  the  early  winter  the  resident  corre- 
spondents at  Rome  of  the  great  European  and  American  journals 
persisted  in  spreading  the  most  alarming  rumors  both  about  his 


Omhioiis  Sympto7ns  of  Disease,  523 

mental  debility  and  his  extreme  bodily  exhaustion.  More  than 
once,  indeed,  the  public  was  startled  by  the  announcement  that  the 
Pope  was  dead  or  dying.  Still,  if  there  was  enough  in  his  bodily 
suffering  to  cause  just  fears,  there  was  nothing  in  his  intellectual 
condition  to  found  the  too-willing  announcement  of  newsmongers. 

The  official  receptions  at  the  Vatican  continued  without  inter- 
mission month  after  month  and  week  after  week.  So  long  as  the 
Holy  Father  could  stand  or  walk  a few  steps,  even  with  the  assist- 
ance of  others,  he  would  not  omit  a single  one  of  what  he  considered 
the  indispensable  duties  of  his  high  position  as  prince  and  pontiff. 
To  the  very  last  he  would  offer  up  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  in  his 
private  chapel  : this  was  the  supreme  delight  of  that  pure  and  lov- 
ing soul.  And  when,  at  length,  unable  to  stand  at  the  altar,  even 
with  the  help  of  others,  he  would  have  his  couch  wheeled  to  the 
door  of  the  chapel,  and  thus  commune  with  the  Divine  Victim  he 
could  no  longer  offer  up  himself,  or  he  would,  when  at  his  worst, 
have  one  of  his  chaplains  celebrate  Mass  in  his  sick-room,  thus 
daily  feasting  his  soul  on  that  Eucharistic  Presence  which  had  ever 
been  the  dearest  consolation  of  his  life. 

A portable  throne,  the  gift  of  the  devoted  young  men  of  Italy 
was  used  to  convey  the  infirm  pontiff  to  the  audience-hall  each 
day;  and,  borne  in  it,  he  would,  as  usual,  pass  around  the  crowded 
ranks  of  pilgrims  and  visitors,  his  voice  still  sending  its  thrilling 
tones  to  the  hearts  of  the  loving  children  come  from  far  and  near 
to  behold  their  venerable  parent,  his  sweet  smile  resting  like  a soft 
beam  of  autumnal  sunshine  on  those  his  voice  could  not  reach,  and 
his  hands,  like  the  Master’s,  ever  open  to  give  and  upraised  to  bless. 
How  many  thousands,  during  the  last  months  of  1877  and  the 
memorable  January  of  1878,  returned  from  that  audience-chamber 
with  the  image  of  those  august  features  indelibly  stamped  upon 
their  hearts,  and  the  tones  of  that  fatherly  voice  still  ringing  in 
their  ears  like  music,  never  to  be  forgotten. 

For,  it  seemed,  just  as  the  end  was  drawing  nigh,  as  if  the  elite 
of  all  Italy  in  particular — both  women  and  men — could  not  satisfy 
the  yearning  they  felt  to  do  homage  in  person  to  their  discrowned 
pontiff  and  parent,  to  confess  thereby  an  inviolable  attachment  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  and  to  receive,  in  one  last  blessing  from  his 
hand,  the  earnest  for  themselves  and  their  dear  ones  of  undying 
fidelity  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers.  The  chronicle  of  the  daily 
receptions  at  the  Vatican  thus  speaks  of  the  presentation  to  his 


524 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Iloliness  of  the  noble  daughters  of  Rome  and  Italy,  associated  for 
all  the  various  purposes  of  education  and  beneficence.  The  pupils 
also  of  the  different  schools  so  generously  patronized  by  Pius  IX. 
in  his  days  of  power,  were  never  refused  admission  to  his  presence 
during  his  years  of  abasement,  or  even  when  prostrated  by  the  last 
fatal  infirmity.  To  the  last  he  delighted  in  witnessing  the  evidences 
of  their  proficiency,  in  bestowing  kind  words  of  praise  on  their 
efforts,  and  tokens  of  his  fatherly  regard  on  the  most  successful ; to 
the  last,  the  resources  which  he  derived  from  the  spontaneous  alms 
of  his  children  in  every  land,  were  dispensed  daily  and  hourly  in 
favor  of  his  old  cherished  institutions,  and  toward  the  relief  of 
the  many  thousands  of  destitute  priests  and  communities  of  both 
sexes. 

Thus  were  the  closing  hours  of  that  eventful  life  consistent  with 
its  beginnings — one  perpetual  scene  of  blessing  and  benefaction. 

But  these  audiences,  these  daily  addresses,  these  words  of  wel- 
come, praise,  and  encouragement,  which  kept  ever  welling  up  from 
the  depths  of  that  fatherly  heart — the  instruction  and  exhortation 
so  wisely  and  opportunely  given  by  the  common  father  to  the  pil- 
grims from  every  shore,  and'the  liberal  aid  bestowed  without  stint  on 
all  the  needy,  far  and  near — were  or  seemed  to  be  only  the  recrea- 
tion, the  lightest  portion  of  the  pontiff’s  daily  burthen  of  toil. 

Even  when  no  longer  able  to  quit  his  private  chamber  and  his 
bed,  no  part  of  his  official  duties  was  dispensed  with,  none  of  his 
usual  labors  were  allowed  to  remain  unattended  to  by  Pius  in 
person.  His  vast  correspondence  was  opened  by  himself  and  his 
secretaries  each  morning,  and  he  annotated  with  his  own  hand  each 
document,  and  dictated  the  answers  to  be  returned  to  the  high  and 
the  lowly  of  every  clime.  The  immense  business  of  the  Roman  con- 
gregations was  transacted  in  every  minute  detail ; not  one  important 
matter  was  omitted  or  delayed,  no  functionary  was  allowed  to  go 
unsatisfied  from  the  sick-chamber,  no  ambassador  was  kept  waiting 
for  audience  or  answer,  no  stranger  who  asked  to  see  the  Pope  was 
sent  away  because  of  the  Pope’s  illness. 

The  consistories  were  held  by  the  side  of  his  sick-bed,  even  when 
he  was  no  longer  able  to  be  carried  to  the  consistorial  hall,  bishops 
were  appointed,  cardinals  created,  all  the  wants  of  the  universal 
Church  were  scrupulously  cared  for  to  the  last,  by  one  who  never 
knew  how  to  be  faint-hearted  in  presence  of  difficulty,  or  fatigued 
while  there  remained  work  to  do. 


Heroic  Discharge  of  Every  Duty, 


525 


To  the  last,  also,  Pius  IX.  thought  constantly  of  his  American 
children.  The  Canadian  Church  had  been  a special  object  of  solici- 
tude during  the  two  last  years  of  his  Pontificate.  On  September 
20th  he  signed  a decree  introducing  the  cause  of  Venerable  Mary  of 
the  Incarnation  (Marie  Guyart-Martin),  foundress  of  the  Ursuline 
Monastery  in  Quebec,  for  the  honors  of  beatification  and  canoniza- 
tion. And  ere  the  end  of  the  year  his  heart  was  thrilled  to  learn 
how  happily  the  Apostolic  Delegate  in  Canada  had  succeeded  in 
composing  the  differences  which  had  required  his  presence  in  that 
country. 

The  cries  of  persecuted  Catholics  never  failed  to  reach  his  ear 
and  heart,  and  to  call  forth  a response  from  him.  The  Russian 
Government,  before  beginning  hostilities  against  Turkey,  had,  as  we 
have  seen,  made  conciliatory  overtures  to  the  Holy  See.  But  the 
Supreme  Pastor  had  learned  by  experience  what  trust  could  be 
placed  in  Russian  good  faith  or  humanity,  when  national  feeling  and 
religious  fanaticism  were  in  the  way.  On  October  the  20th,  when  the 
Russian  armies  had  already  reached  the  Balkans,  and  were  collect- 
ing all  their  strength  for  their  triumphal  march  to  Constantinople, 
Cardinal  Simeoni,  by  order  of  his  Holiness,  addressed  to  the  Papal 
Nuncio  at  foreign  courts  an  eloquent  letter,  denouncing  to  the  civil- 
ized world  the  hypocrisy  and  atrocious  cruelty  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment in  its  treatment  of  Polish  and  Russian  Catholics.  This 
was  followed,  on  November  the  10th,  by  a Brief  of  the  Holy  Father 
addressed  to  the  Apostolic  Delegate  in  Austrian  Poland,  on  the  per- 
secutions inflicted  on  the  brave  but  unfortunate  Polish  populations. 
The  concluding  paragraph  of  Cardinal  Simeoni’s  circular  deserves 
to  be  quoted  here  as  the  dying  protest  of  Pius  IX.  in  favor  of  a 
dying  people  : 

‘‘When  the  full  communication  of  a whole  Church,  with  the 
Holy  See,  is  prevented  by  the  fearful  punishment  of  exile,  inflicted 
on  those  who  correspond  with  that  Holy  See — when  the  education 
of  the  clergy,  the  instruction  in  religion  itself,  the  preaching  of  the 
holy  Gospel,  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  the  holy  rites 
of  the  Church,  and  the  jurisdiction  of  its  pastors,  are  submitted  to 
the  will  of  those  who  have  no  mission  to  determine  their  rules — when 
whole  dioceses  are  dragged  toward  schism  by  every  means  of  seduc- 
tion and  violence,  without  excepting  even  the  shedding  of  the  blood 
of  those  populations  which  prefer  death  to  apostasy — when,  finally, 
the  recourse  to  diplomatic  action  to  complain  gf  such  acts  is  brutally 


526 


Life  of  Pope  Puis  IX, 


taken  away  from  the  Holy  See,  tlic  inaction  of  tlie  Holy  See  could 
only  become  a subject  of  scandal  to  all  Catholicity.  That  scandal, 
moreover,  would  be  the  greater  to-day,  when  even  non-Catholic 
nations  are  moved  at  the  recital  of  tlie  deplorable  events  related  in 
tlie  documents  attached  to  this  letter,  and  that  the  people  exposed 
to  this  violence  for  the  preservation  of  their  faith,  have  the  riglit  to 
be  sustained  in  their  conviction  and  enlightened  by  tlie  supreme 
Head  of  the  Church.  No  one,  then,  can  be  astonished  if  very  soon 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  putting  an  end  to  a silence  wliich  might  be 
taxed  as  weakness,  should  be  obliged  to  save  the  last  remains  of  the 
religion  of  such  a precious  and  noble  part  of  his  flock  without  ap- 
pealing to  a power  toward  which  the  Holy  See  has  exhausted  all 
possible  consideration,  and  which  has  never  responded  by  the  least 
sign.” 

On  December  the  28th,  the  last  consistorial  Allocution  of  Pius 
IX.  was  delivered  to  the  Cardinals  assembled  in  his  private  library. 
He  spoke  as  follows  from  his  coucli : 

Venerable  Brothers  : — Your  presence  here  to-day  in  such 
numbers  gives  us  an  opportunity  which  we  gladly  seize,  to  return  to 
you  and  to  each  of  you  our  most  sincere  thanks  for  the  kind  offices 
you  have  shown  to  us  in  this  time  of  our  illness.  We  thank  God  that 
we  have  found  you  our  most  faithful  helpers  in  bearing  our  bur- 
den of  the  Apostolic  ministry  ; and  your  virtue  and  constant  affec- 
tion have  contributed  to  lessen  the  bitterness  of  our  many  sufferings. 
But  while  we  rejoice  in  your  affection  and  zeal,  we  cannot  forget  that 
we  need  daily  more  and  more  your  co-operation  and  that  of  all  our 
brethren  and  of  all  the  faithful,  to  attain  the  immediate  aid  of  God 
for  the  many  pressing  necessities  of  us  and  of  the  Church.  Tliere- 
fore  we  urgently  exhort  you,  and  especially  those  of  you  wlio  exer- 
cise the  episcopal  ministry  in  your  respective  dioceses,  as  well  as  all 
the  pastors  who  preside  over  the  Lord’s  flock  throughout  the  entire 
Catholic  world,  to  implore  the  divine  clemency,  and  cause  prayers 
to  be  offered  to  God  that  he  may  give  us,  amidst  the  affliction  of 
our  body,  strength  of  mind  to  wage  vigorously  the  conflict  which- 
has  to  be  endured,  to  regard  mercifully  the  labors  and  wrongs  of 
the  Church,  to  forgive  us  all  our  sins,  aifd  for  the  glory  of  his 
name  to  grant  the  gift  of  good-will  and  the  fruits  of  that  peace 
which  the  angelic  choirs  announced  to  mankind  at  the  birth  of  the 
Saviour.” 

Such  were  the  kind  words  addressed  by  Christ’s  Vicar  to  his 


Death  of  the  Persecutor,  527 

brethren  and  to  the  entire  Christian  flock,  as  the  days  of  his  last 
Christmastide  were  at  hand  ; words  of  unflinching  constancy  amid 
bodily  suffering  and  the  growing  ills  which  assailed  the  Church  he 
loved  so  w^ell ; words  of  humble  and  unaffected  piety,  entreating 
strength  of  soul  and  forgiveness  of  sins  for  himself — good-will  and 
peace  for  the  entire  human  family.  A second  consistory  was  held 
on  December  the  31st  for  important  and  urgent  business.  And  so 
the  long  year  of  1877  ended — the  year  1878  dawned  upon  this  pro- 
tracted pontificate.  It  was  hoped,  as  the  tidings  reached  all  parts 
of  Italy  and  the  Catholic  world,  of  a decided  improvement  in  the 
Pope’s  condition,  that  he  might  live  till  June,  when  the  years  of  his 
reign  would  equal  not  only  the  duration  of  Peter’s  pontificate  in 
Eome,  but  that  also  of  his  administration  at  Antioch.  Thus,  in  the 
fullest  sense,  would  Pius  IX.  have  ‘’seen  the  Days  of  Peter.” 

In  anticipation  of  this  prolongation  of  his  life,  the  Catholic  asso- 
ciations of  Italy,  Germany,  and  France  began  to  take  measures  for 
a celebration  which,  though  unequal  perhaps  to  that  of  May  and 
June,  1877,  would  have  once  more  afforded  splendid  evidence  of  the 
unparalleled  affection  in  which  the  august  sufferer  was  held. 

During  the  first  week  of  January  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  continued 
daily  to  transact  all  the  weighty  business  of  his  charge,  and  to  re- 
ceive in  his  private  room  all  persons  who  desired  audience  of  him. 
On  Saturday,  the  5th,  King  Victor  Emmanuel  had  been  enjoying 
the  beautiful  drive  on  Monte  Pincio  in  his  accustomed  robust 
health.  The  next  day  he  was  prostrated  by  malarial  fever  ; on  the 
9th  he  was  dead — one  of  his  last  official  acts  having  been  to  sign  a 
decree  regulating  the  mourning,  etc.,  to  be  observed  at  the  expected 
death  of  the  Pope.  At  the  first  tidings  of  danger  which  reached 
the  Vatican,  the  Holy  Father  sent  Monsignor  Marinelli,  who  had 
pastoral  charge  of  all  the  apostolic  palaces,  including  the  Quirinal, 
to  offer  to  the  dying  king,  with  the  assurance  of  the  Pope’s  forgive- 
ness, the  comfort  of  the  last  sacraments.  The  censures  incurred  by 
the  invasion  of  the  pontifical  territories  and  all  the  consequent 
usurpations  and  sacrileges  were  removed  by  the  merciful  pontiff. 
The  first  advances  of  this  touching  fatherly  love  were  little  heeded 
by  the  sick  prince,  and  rudely  spurned  by  his  rationalistic  son  and 
successor,  Umberto.  But  when  death  was  staring  Victor  Emmanuel 
in  the  face,  he  gladly  accepted  the  proffered  boon  of  reconciliation. 
On  the  9th  he  passed  away  to  the  presence  of  the  Eternal  Judge, 
muttering  with  his  latest  breath  . . . ifigli,  . . . ‘‘the 


528 


’ Life  of  Pope  Pitts  IX^ 

sons,  . . . the  sons.  . . He  was  himself  the  ill-sfcarred 

son  of  a father — a Catholic  King — who  died  broken-hearted  far 
away  from  his  native  Piedmont ; to  Umberto  I.  has  descended  the 
burthen  of  a crown  made  heavy  by  the  accepted  responsibility  of 
all  the  injustice,  oppression,  and  manifold  sacrilege  committed  by 
the  Revolution.  The  Revolution  gave  his  father  a throne  of  fire  in 
the  Quirinal,  as  intolerable  as  the  bed  to  which  Dives  was  doomed. 
The  Revolution  will  not  allow  Umberto  I.  long  to  enjoy  the  sad 
comfort  of  his  usurped  throne. 

On  the  17th  the  dead  king  was  buried  beneath  the  dome  of  the 
Pantheon  : all  the  evil  spirits  who  have  brought  moral  ruin  on 
Rome  and  Italy  had  flocked  to  the  obsequies.  England  and  France, 
the  creators  of  Italian  Unity,’^  were  represented  there  by  the 
ultra-Protestant  Earl  of  Roden  and  a marshal ; Germany  and  Russia, 
who  need  and  use  Italy  for  their  present  purposes,  had  also  sent 
their  highest ; and  weak  Austria  sent  an  archduke  to  bear  witness 
to  her  own  humiliation  in  that  funeral  pageant.  Among  the  bands 
marshaled  in  that  motley  procession  were  some  ten  or  twelve  shame- 
less priests,  one  of  whom  bore  the  flag  of  United  Italy,  another  a 
banner  inscribed  Del  Sacerdotio  itediano,  and  a third  bore  aloft  a 
newspaper  entitled  Emancipatore  CcUtolico.  And  so  the  Pantheon 
of  Agrippa  returns  to  a new  worship,  till  such  time  in  the  near 
future  when  it  will  be  changed  into  a pandemonium. 

When  the  news  of  the  King’s  death  reached  the  Pope,  he  said 
to  those  around  him,  I expected  this.  I had  pardoned  him. 
Let  us  pray  for  his  soul.”  And  all  knelt  to  beseech  the  divine 
mercy  in  favor  of  the  royal  culprit.  But  a few  days  before,  and 
within  the  same  week,  died  General  de  La  Marmora,  who  had 
been  Victor  Emmanuel’s  efficient  aid  in  the  inglorious  conquest 
and  plunder  of  the  Papal  States,  the  first  Piedmontese  governor 
of  Rome  and  its  immediate  territory  after  September  the  20th,  1870, 
and  the  unscrupulous  tool  of  the  triumphant  revolutionists  in  the 
horrible  violence  and  sacrilege  which  ensued. 

Throughout  the  remaining  weeks  of  January  the  condition  of 
the  Pope  gave  promise  of  ultimate  recovery  of  his  bodily  strength. 
He  had  caused  the  papers  relating  to  the  Scotch  hierarchy  to  be 
printed  and  distributed  to  the  cardinals  in  order  to  a final  delibera- 
tion on  the  matter  on  the  28th  of  January,  and  had  manifested 
especial  interest  in  the  efforts  made  by  the  Roman  associations  to 
have  efficient  niglit-schools  for  poor  children  established  in  the 


The  End, 


529 


Eternal  City.  .Thus,  while  he  continued  to  live  true  to  himself,  his 
conscience,  and  his  people  in  every  act  of  his,  we  hoped,  as  February 
dawned  brighter  on  the  Vatican,  that  the  delicious  spring  weather 
of  Kome  would  bring  fresh  vigor  to  a frame  which  no  excess  had 
ever  impaired,  but  excess  of  labor  alone.  On  February  the  6th 
some  of  our  New  York  Catholic  papers  announced  that  they  had 
received  the  most  reassuring  tidings  by  telegraph  from  Kome. 

On  the  7th,  however,  the  great  city  was  thrilled  by  the  rumor 
that  the  Pope  had  had  a dangerous  fainting  fit — then  telegrams 
from  Rome  came  to  say  that  he  had  rallied,  and,  anon,  came  the 
positive  assurance  of  his  death.  It  was  all  too  true. 

The  venerable  patient  had  felt  so  much  better  on  the  6th  that  he 
ventured  to  walk  in  his  apartment  supported  by  two  of  his  cham- 
berlains. During  the  night  the  running  sores  in  his  legs  were 
closed,  and  the  most  alarming  symptoms  manifested  themselves. 
At  four  o’clock  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  the  physicians  in  attend- 
ance announced  that  there  was  no  hope.  The  Cardinal  Vicar  and 
all  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College  then  in  Rome  were  at  once 
summoned  to  the  Vatican.  The  Holy  Father  was  perfectly  con- 
scious in  his  last  moments,  and  received  with  serene  and  simple 
piety  the  last  sacraments  from  tlie  hand  of  Cardinal  Panebianco. 

At  a few  minutes  before  five  o’clock  of  the  afternoon  the  meek 
spirit  of  Pius  IX.  passed  beyond  the  vail  of  our  mortality.  The 
long  crucifixion  of  tliirty-three  years  was  ended  ; and  he  to  Avhom 
had  fallen  the  prophetic  designation  of  Crux  de  Cruce  had  gone 
for  judgment  to  the  tribunal  of  the  Crucified. 

Like  his  Master,  Pius  IX.  had  only  words  of  fatherly  love  and 
mercy  for  the  great  criminals  who  had  despoiled  the  Church,  de- 
stroyed the  independence  of  Christ’s  Vicar,  and  conspired  or  aided 
to  take  away  from  every  Italian  soul  the  faith  in  Christ  Himself. 

He  had  labored  so  long  and  had  suffered  so  much  for  the  Church 
and  for  us  all,  that  we  fondly  hoped  God  would  spare  him  to  the 
love  and  veneration  of  his  people.  For,  looking  back  over  the  long 
line  of  his  two  hundred  and  sixty-one  predecessors  in  the  Chair  of 
Peter,  we  find  no  one  to  whom  the  enthusiastic  and  disinterested 
love  of  the  Catholic  world  has  paid  such  repeated,  such  unanimous, 
and  such  splendid  testimony  of  filial  regard  and  unbounded  attach- 
ment. 

In  his  lifetime  he  had  selected  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  Major 
as  his  final  resting-place.  There,  before  many  days  have  elapsed, 
34 


530 


Life  of  Pope  Pius  IX. 


Rome — the  true  Rome,  Catholic,  Christian  Rome — will  lay  all  that  is 
mortal  of  the  pontiff  who  has  borne  the  burthen  of  the  Crown  and 
the  Cross  with  such  unfaltering  courage.  He  will  rest  near  the 
altar  of  her  whom  he  loved  better  than  the  mother  who  bore  him — 
Mary  Immaculate,  Mother  of  our  Redeemer.  His  life  of  nearly  a 
century  was  devoted  to  her  Son’s  interests  and  her  pure  glory,  to 
the  task  of  making  all  humankind  know  and  love  its  true  parents, 
the  Second  Adam  and  the  Second  Eve. 

We  have  no  fear  but  they  have  received  him  to  favorable  judg- 
ment. Nor  need  his  memory  fear  the  judgment  of  mankind.  No 
matter  how  splendid  or  how  lowly  the  tomb  which  receives  in  the 
magnificent  Basilica  the  mortal  remains  of  Pius  IX.,  certain  are  we 
that  the  present  age  will  inscribe  on  it  the  well-merited  title  of 
Pius  the  Beloved. 


APPEISTDIX. 


A. 

Gallic Ai^iSM  originated  in  a system  of  what  was  called  the  rights 
or  liberties  of  the  Gallican  or  French  Church,  as  embodied  in  the 
pragmatic  sanction  of  1438,  aiming  at  restricting  as  much  as  possi- 
ble the  jurisdiction  claimed  by  the  Pope  over  all  national  churches, 
and  the  disposal  of  ecclesiastical  properties  and  revenues,  and  the 
appointment  and  removal  of  all  churchmen  and  beneficiaries.  The 
pretensions  of  the  kings  who  wanted  to  have  the  control  of  all  these 
matters  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  powers  inherent  in  the  papal 
supremacy.  It  was  the  interest  of  the  kings  of  France  to  appoint 
and  remove  at  pleasure,  and  to  have  the  disposal  of  benefices  and 
revenues  : these  rights,  and  others  like  them,  which  were  misnamed 
LiberUs  GaUicanes,  were  upheld  by  the  king  and  the  French  par- 
liaments ; and  their  supporters  were  called  Galileans,  while  all 
who  maintained  the  legitimate  rights  of  the  Holy  See  were  called 
Ultramontains,  a name  by  which  French  and  even  Germans  desig- 
nated all  Italians,  and  especially  Italian  and  Koman  theologians, 
who  were  living  ‘‘  beyond  the  mountains  (the  Alps)  which  separate 
France  and  Germany  from  Italy.’’ 

The  quintessence  of  Gallicanism  was  embodied  in  1682,  in  four 
propositions,  promulgated  by  Louis  XIV.,  and  which  the  law  of  the 
land  obliged  all  professors  to  teach,  and  all  beneficiaries  to  hold. 


B. 

Bossuet’s  opinion  on  the  temporalities  of  the  Holy  See ; 

‘‘We  know  that  the  Roman  pontiffs  and  the  priestly  order  have 
received  by  concession  from  sovereigns,  and  hold  in  lawful  possession, 
property,  rights,  and  principalities,  which  they  retain  as  other  men 
do,  most  rightfully.  We  know  that  these  possessions,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  consecrated  to  God,  are  to  be  held  sacred,  and  that  no  one 

531 


Appendix, 


532 

may  without  sacrilege  invade  or  wrest  them  away  or  bestow  them  on 
Ecchlar  persons.  To  the  Holy  See  hath  been  conceded  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  city  of  Kome  and  other  possessions,  in  order  that  the 
Holy  See  being  thereby  made  both  freer  and  more  secure,  might 
exercise  its  power  throughout  the  whole  world.  This  is  a thing  for 
which  the  Holy  See  has  to  be  congratulated  as  well  as  the  univer- 
sal Church,  and  we  pray  God  with  all  our  heart,  that  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  this  2 remain  intact  and  secure.” — 

Defensio  Cleri  Gallicanij  1.  i.,  sect,  x.,  c.  16. 


C. 

Carbonaro  is  a word  derived  from  the  Italian  carlonajo,  ‘^a  char- 
coal burner,”  and  became  in  Italy  about  1810  a designation  for  every 
member  of  a secret  political  association  organized  to  get  rid  both  of 
the  rule  of  the  French,  who  were  then  masters  of  the  kingdom  of 
Naples,  and  of  the  expelled  Bourbons,  who  were  half-Spanish,  half- 
French.  These  men  wanted  Italy  for  the  Italians,  and  wanted  to 

purify”  or  rid  the  country  of  foreigners  and  foreign  rule.  Hence 
they  adopted  ‘^carbon”  or  charcoal  as  the  symbol  of  purification  or 
the  extermination  of  their  foreign  masters. 

They  had  their  resorts  in  the  mountains  of  the  Abruzzi  during 
the  French  occupation,  and  spread  gradually  over  all  Italy,  aiming 
at  the  extirpation  of  the  Bourbons  from  Naples  and  Sicily,  of  the 
Austrians  from  Lombardy  and  Venice,  as  well  as  of  the  Grand  Dukes 
from  Modena  and  Florence. 

The  Italian  carbonari  were,  however,  derived  from  a secret  society 
of  the  same  nature  which  arose  in  France  during  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, and  was  called  Charhonnerie,  Both  of  these  societies  acquired 
great  extension  and  extraordinary  power  from  1810  to  1830. 

They  covered  both  countries  with  a network  of  societies,  which  be- 
came both  anti-monarchical  and  anti-Christian.  Their  lodges  or 
places  of  meeting  were  called,  in  the  language  of  the  craft,  huts,” 
Italian,  baracche ; the  provincial  huts  were  called  sales,”  vendite, 


/ 

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